The Spirit of Adventure
by Konzelwoman
Summary: How Peeta and Katniss meet, eventual Everlark. From when they are 7 yr. old to current day with children and an adventure of a lifetime. Will include most of the gang. Slightly OOC and AU. Horrible synopsis, I know. But I promise, the story is much better! (Loosely from "Up!")
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

Chapter 1

Seven-year-old Peeta Mellark was obsessed with Indiana Jones. Every day he would come into his parent's bakery in his Indiana Halloween costume, his blonde curls sticking out from under the hat, and would announce to his father, "I'm going on an adventure!" and every day his father would play along. Looking over one shoulder, than the other as if to make sure "the enemy", as Peeta called them, wasn't listening, he would ask something along the lines of, "Really? I couldn't help but overhear your phone call from the president last night. Where to this time?"

Peeta, who usually had a smile from ear to ear on his face at all hours of the day or night, would adopt a very serious face for his seven year old features, and it was all his father could do not to laugh. "I'm not at liberty to say," was always Peeta's cryptic reply, usually followed by something along the lines of, "but I will tell you it involves lots of icing…. And cookies. Lots and lots of cookies."

"Well," his father said, finally wearing the smile he had been hiding, "that I can help you with! Come over here," he gestured to a table topped with large blobs of cookie dough, and grabbed a miniature apron as he followed his son. "This mission sounds very important, so I am going to give you a little bit of hands on training before you go, okay?" Peeta grinned up at his father as he donned the apron over his costume. "Okay, pops. Show me what ya got!"

"First of all," the eldest Mellark started, "to understand the cookie, you need to become one with the cookie, my padawan." This elicited a giggle from the Mini Indie. "And to become one with the cookie, one must know how to make cookies."

The smile on the little boy's face faded. "Mom says I'm too young to make cookies."

His father's heart sunk a little, but he didn't let his son see. Instead he whispered, "Bah! What do moms know about secret cookie missions, hmm?" There was that smile again, the one Mr. Mellark loved to see the most. "Now sit still for a minute, I'll be right back." With that, he stepped away and into a pantry.

"What are you getting?" Peeta yelled, nearly bouncing off of his seat in anticipation.

"Every adventurer needs tools, of course!" his father replied, walking out of the pantry with his hands behind his back to conceal his surprise. He laughed when he saw his son craning his neck to try to see behind his father while obediently sitting on the chair. "Some of your other missions, I have not been able to help you with because I am only a baker – I am no match for your world saving skills." Peeta had a smile so big his father feared his face would crack in two. "But," he continued, adding pause for effect, once again looking over each shoulder and Peeta doing the same. "But cookies? That I can help with. I can give you tools to help you on your journey. I have been saving this for just such a mission." And with that he revealed his surprise. It was a leather tool belt, made to hold all kinds of gadgets and things, but instead of your typical tools like a hammer and screwdriver, this belt was stocked with kitchen utensils, all in a miniature form. A whisk, a wooden spoon, a large pocket held several cookie cutters of various shapes and sizes, another held an envelope, and last was an empty icing tube waiting to be filled.

Mr. Mellark realized he was wrong as his son's face cracking smile increased tenfold. He handed the belt to Peeta, who held it for a moment as if it was a precious diamond. He reached for the envelope in the pocket, and pulled it out. In big red letters across the front of the envelope read the words 'TOP SECRET'. Inside of it, Peeta found recipes for cakes, breads, pastries, and most importantly, cookies.

"Now," his father said, "let's break in those new tools as I teach you the art of making the ultimate cookies."

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Seven-year-old Katniss Everdeen was not like other girls. She loved to be outside, pretend she was on another planet, play cowboys and Indians with her best friend Gale, who was two whole years older than her, and he never let her forget it. "I'm the oldest, so I get to choose!" he would say, and Katniss would just roll her eyes and let him. Nothing was worse than an angry Gale. If he got angry with her, he would pin her down on the ground, sit on her, and tickle her until she said uncle. "Say it, Catnip," he would taunt while bombarding her with tickles wherever she was open. _Catnip._ She hated that nickname, and he knew it. Boys were mean, she decided. And smelly. "Say uncle," he taunted again, his tickling so fierce she could hardly breathe.

With every ounce of strength she could muster, she caught him off guard and rolled over, resulting in her pinning him down. Catching her breath, she huffed in his face, "I don't think so." Try as he might, Gale could not get out from under Katniss. She just laughed whenever he would try, and say, "Say it, Gale. Uncle. Say it and I'll let you go." Gale mustered his toughest big kid look and stared at Katniss, trying to scare her, but she only giggled and said, "What, _cat_ got your tongue?" putting emphases on the word _cat_, referencing her hated nickname.

"Katniiiiiiiiiisssssssssss," Gale whined, "all the other kids will see. Come on. I have a reputation here! I'm nine! I can't be beat by a seven year old _girl_." With his emphasis on the last word, Katniss's grip tightened, and she got so close to his face, their noses were touching.

"I think you already have been," she stated simply, and got up.

With a huff, Gale got up and dusted off his clothes, a frown growing on his face. Katniss hated seeing him sad, but she also loved it. He may be a smelly boy, but he was _her_ smelly boy, her best friend. With a roll of her eyes at the frown on his face, she walked toward him, and he took a step back, making her giggle. "Okay! I come in peace!" she said. Gale still had a leery look on his face, so she stood straight up and said, "Cross my heart!" as she drew a little "x" over her heart. Gale seemed to relax a little bit. This was like their secret handshake. Sorta. If you crossed your heart and broke it, well… "Then bad things would happen to you," Gale had said the first time he brought it up 3 years ago. "What kind of things?" Katniss had asked, figuring it was just a joke. "Just, _things_." Katniss gulped.

Smiling at the memory, she asked Gale, "Want to go to the bakery? I have saved up all my coins in a jar, and traded them to dad for paper money. It's in my pocket."

"How much?" Gale asked.

"Ten dollars," Katniss said with pride.

"Woah!" Gale said in shock. "That will buy, like," he paused and counted on his fingers, "twelve cookies!" They both stood there, staring at each other in a state of amazement at the realization of the amount of cookies they could buy.

"Race you!" Katniss said, as she took off running, not even looking back to make sure Gale was following.

"Hey!" he cried in protest from a distance behind her, "That's not fair! I'm older!"

**A/N: I hope you liked it so far! I'm not entirely sure where I want this to go yet. I know I want it to be like in "Up!", because I picture Katniss and Peeta like Carl and Ellie. But, I don't want her to die, and I want them to have kids. Then we come to the dogs later on in the story. I may just have Finnick be Doug, he's puppy dog enough. ;) If you have any ideas, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**I am also going to include Finnick, Annie, Johanna, Haymitch, Effie... Mainly just the "key" characters of the series.**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**And once again, ****Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

Chapter 2

Peeta had been working on the cookies all morning, but just wasn't getting the hang of it. His first two batches turned out lumpy and hard. "They look like they have warts," he had told his father, who could not hold in his laughter at the silliness of his youngest son. Peeta, however, did not find this funny in the least, and his brilliant blue eyes brimmed with tears threatening to run down and stain his cheeks.

Upon seeing his son in a state of distress, the elder Mellark swallowed his laughter quickly, and thinking on his toes reassured his son, "That's okay. That's why you're practicing, so your mission will go smoothly." This earned a small but sad closed mouth grin from Peeta, which didn't quite reach his eyes. He wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve as he sniffed one last, sad sniff.

Making another attempt to cheer him up, Mr. Mellark said, "You know, I think these are perfect."

Peeta looked at his father as if he had just said he was the Lucky Charms Leprechaun. "How?" he asked, his voice distressed, yet curious.

"Well," his father continued, lowering his face to be closer to his son's, and his voice along with it, "they are so hard, that if _the enemy_ comes-"

"Shhhhhhh!" Peeta interrupted his father, putting his little pointer finger against his father's lips with his right hand, and doing the same to his own lips with his left. Whispering through his finger, Peeta went on, "I don't want _them_ to know we're on to them… They're everywhere," he finished as he looked under the table now at his back as he was turned to his father, making sure they were alone.

"Oh! Sorry!" Mr. Mellark whispered, also through Peeta's finger at his lips. "As I was saying," he continued, dropping his voice even lower, making Peeta drop his finger and lean in even closer, "if _the enemy_ comes up behind you or tries to attack you, you can just throw these cookies at them. One hit with a lumpy sugar cookie to the head would be enough to drop even Darth Vader through his helmet!"

The look on Peeta's face was priceless, his father decided, wishing he had the camera there to take a picture of it. Those big blue eyes with blonde curls falling into them under the brim of his Indiana hat, dried raw egg smeared across his right cheek with a bit of the shell sticking to it, a dusting of flour on his eyelashes, smeared on his cheeks, and a bit of batter splashed across his nose made for quite the sight, but it was mostly his eyes and slack jaw that made his father bite his tongue in an attempt not to laugh as Peeta looked at him in utter, innocent, confusion.

"Dad," Peeta slowly said. Mr. Mellark raised his eyebrows in response, still biting his tongue. "Have you been sneaking sugar cubes while I was working on my cookies?"

His son's question left him completely confused, so he released his tongue and said, "No, why?"

"Because," Peeta started, as if it was obvious, "whenever Finn visits and we sneak sugar cubes, mom says we get crazy and say silly things that make no sense. And, well, you started talking about throwing cookies at people's heads, and I thought-"

"You and Finn sneak sugar cubes?" his father cut him off. Peeta's mouth simply shut as his cheeks turned red.

"He made me do it," he finally answered, looking down at the floor, kicking his leg as if to scuff the floor even though the height of the stool made that impossible.

The guilt on his son's face was enough for Mr. Mellark, so he just said, "Why you little…" and started tickling Peeta, who screamed and started giggling uncontrollably. Just then, they heard the bells at the front door jingle, meaning they had a customer. "Just a minute!" he yelled to the front of the bakery, then looking back at his son. "Come here, you," Mr. Mellark said, picking Peeta up around the waist with his left arm, and held him to his hip so that his face was facing forward beside his father's belly, and his feet dangled behind him. "After that little admission about the sugar, I can't leave you alone in here." Peeta just giggled again and they continued on to the front counter from the back of the bakery, or as Peeta called it, 'Mission Control'.

When they reached the spot behind the register, Mr. Mellark opened his mouth to ask how he could help the customers, but Peeta beat him to it, looking straightforward from his position in his father's arm with that gigantic grin, and saying, "May I help you?"

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Katniss beat Gale to the bakery by a long shot. By the time he got there, she was sitting on the top step right outside the front door of the building that held all those sweet treats, having mostly caught her breath.

Gale bent over and leaned on his knees, taking deep breaths as he huffed out, "Man…. Catnip….. How did you….. Get so fast?"

"I've always been fast," Katniss retorted.

"Nu-uh!" Gale half yelled, half whined at her, which earned him an eye roll and a smile.

"Come on," she said, walking back down the steps and grabbing his elbow to pull him into the bakery with her.

As soon as they stepped inside, they heard the bells jingle above the door, and was that… Giggling? Then, "Just a minute!" came a man's voice from the back, and Katniss lost herself in the smells of the bakery – breads, pastries, they all seemed to combine and made the air smell of yeasty, sugary, buttery goodness. She was nearly drooling when a large, happy looking man, whom Katniss immediately decided she liked, came walking out from the back room of the bakery, carrying a little boy wearing some sort of costume and his face covered in baking ingredients. The little boy looked at her, grinned a contagious grin, and said, "May I help you?"

As if on cue, her stomach growled very loudly, causing the large man to laugh a deep, friendly laugh, Gale to point at her and laugh, her cheeks to blush, and the little boy to grin even wider, if that were even possible. Katniss was too embarrassed to talk, so Gale said, "Yes, we have ten dollars and want some cookies. That would buy us twelve cookies, right?"

"That is correct," the man said, making Gale smile with pride at Katniss. "You hear that, Catnip? I was right!"

Katniss rolled her eyes at him again when the little boy asked, "Catnip? That's your name?"

"No, it's not, thank goodness," Katniss answered, continuing, "It's just my nickname. My name is Katniss. Katniss Everdeen."

"Oh!" the man, who is still holding the little boy on his hip exclaimed, "Everdeen! I know your parents! I haven't seen them in a long time. I'm Mr. Mellark, I own the bakery," he finished with pride. Katniss just smiled a polite smile that her mother had taught her, telling her to not scowl so much.

Gale had been staring at the little boy ever since he asked about her nickname, and it was not at all a nice stare. It was the look Gale got when looking at someone who had a toy he wanted. He finally piped up and asked the boy in a taunting voice, "What's your name? 'Bread Boy'?"

"Kinda," was the little boy's reply. "My name is Peeta. It is a kind of bread," he stated with pride. Gale looked like he didn't know what to do, since Peeta had, unknowingly, shot down his jab. At last he stammered out, "O- oh. I was saying because it looks like you have bread all over your face, so… Yeah. I'm just going to call you Bread Boy. Bread Boy and Catnip."

Katniss glared at Gale, who was glaring at Peeta, who was smiling at Katniss, his chin resting on his left fist as if his elbow were propped up on an invisible table."Katniss," Peeta said, as if testing it out, and bringing her attention back to him. "I like it. It's pretty. But if we're giving nicknames, I'm going to call you… Kat. Is that okay?" Katniss thought about it. "I guess so," she finally said. She kind of liked it, and the smile it brought to Peeta's face she liked even more.

"Good!" he said excitedly, then turned to Gale. "And you…" he trailed off as he thought, pretending to stoke an invisible beard. "I will call you… Grumpy. Like from Snow White?"Katniss laughed loudly. "Yes! Grumpy!" Peeta once again smiled, and Gale got that mean stare again and directed it at Peeta. Katniss's stomach growled again, causing them all to laugh.

"Dad! Put me down!" Peeta said urgently to his father. Once he was on the floor, he ran to the back room, and came back with a tray full of steaming rolls that made them all quiet down and stare. The tray was a little too big for Peeta to carry, so his father took it from him and asked, "What's this for, son? They wanted cookies, not cheese buns." Katniss stared at the tray and stuttered, "Ch- chee- cheese buns?" and her stomach growled it's loudest growl yet, causing Peeta to grin at her, and then turn to his father to explain. "I know, but cookies won't do anything for that growling monster in her tummy." Katniss giggled then Gale's tummy growled, causing everyone to look at him in surprise, his cheeks flushing and a surprised look on his own face. Before anyone could make a sound, Peeta's tummy growled. This time all three children ended up on the floor rolling and laughing. Finally, Peeta was able to catch his breath and talk again and said, "See, dad? We all have tummy monsters that we have to feed, and they only like cheese buns."

"And cookies!" Gale chimed in, having stood up and caught his breath enough to speak as well.

"Alright, alright," Mr. Mellark said, walking the tray over to a nearby table and setting it down in the middle. Katniss, having been the last to recover from the laughing fit sat down first, Peeta and Gale sat on each side of her, and she was about to dig in, when Gale stopped her. "What?" she asked, getting very frustrated, but it soon turned to worry when she saw the evil smirk on his face. "Let's have a competition. See who can eat the most the fastest." Katniss looked at Peeta, who was grinning and nodding rapidly in agreement. _Boys, _she thought, but sighed and nodded in agreement. "Ready, Bread Boy?" Gale asked, and Peeta replied, "Ready!" Gale turned to Katniss. "Ready, _Catnip_?" Oh, now he did it. Not only was she ready to start, she was ready to beat him at his little roll eating game. "You bet I am, _Grumpy_," she said with a mischievous grin growing on her face. "Mr. Mellark?" Gale turned to Peeta's father. "Will you be the referee and time us? Set a timer for like, 5 minutes or something." Mr. Mellark agreed, but shook his head as he went to get a timer. He turned it to five minutes, and said, "Ready? Set? Go!" and with that he set the timer down on the table, and the children began stuffing their faces with cheesy goodness.

Gale started by shoving three whole rolls into his mouth, but it became a giant wad of doughy cheese and he was having a hard time chewing and swallowing. Peeta was eating them one by one, but a whole one at a time. Katniss just ate normally, and because of that, she didn't get sick from too much of the rich cheese at once like the boys did. They were groaning and chewing slower and slower while Katniss ate roll after roll without any problems, except the growing grin of victory on her face that made it harder to chew with every bit it grew.

"Uncle!" Gale called through a mouth full of buns. "Katniss, you can have all but one of the cookies if we stop now. If we don't, I'm going to be sick."

"All but one?" Katniss asked to make sure she heard him right through the wad of bread in his mouth. He nodded. "Cross your heart?" she asked. He nodded and groaned as he lifted his hand to draw the 'x' over his heart. "Okay," Katniss said, and continued to eat the rest of the cheese buns. Peeta had eaten about five and given up, so he went to get the cookies, coming back with his face clear of all the baking mess that had been plastered to his face this whole time, and set the cookies beside Katniss.

She reached in the bag and pulled out a hard, lumpy sugar cookie. She turned to Peeta who was snickering. "D- did you make these?" Katniss asked him, trying to be nice. "Yes, this morning!" Peeta replied enthusiastically. Gale stared at the cookie and said, "You can have all of them, Catnip. They look like they have warts."

"Ew!" she squealed. "Nope you get your one cookie, Gale. You crossed your heart." And with that she tossed the cookie at him and it hit the side of his head with a loud thump, then landed on the floor in one piece. "Ow!" Gale said rubbing his head where the cookie had made impact. "Bread Boy, did you put rocks in these?" Peeta looked at his father and the two of them laughed.

**A/N: Well, here is chapter two! If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

Chapter 3

Peeta was almost done icing a tray of cookies when he heard the bells jingle upfront. He wondered who it was, but quickly found out when his older brother, Quinn, yelled to him from behind the register, "Hey, Peeta! Finnick is here!"

Quickly wiping his hands on a rag, Peeta ran to the front of the bakery, around the counter, and hugged his friend. "Finn! I missed you! You were gone forever!"

Finnick gave him an equally large hug with a matching smile, but pushed him away gently after a moment and said, "Aw, I missed you too, Pillsbury, but don't get all mushy on me. I mean, I was only at swimming camp, and it was only, what, two months?"

"And a week!" Peeta added, Finnick rolling his eyes at him.

"And a week!" Quinn mocked from behind them in a high-pitched voice, causing Peeta to turn and glare at him. "What?" Quinn asked in an innocent tone, causing Peeta to huff and Finnick to chuckle. "Can you two lovebirds get a room? Like, have your reunion somewhere else…. Out of my sight?"

"Come on, Finn," Peeta said, leading his friend to the back. "I still have two more trays of cookies to frost."

"Man, come on!" Finnick whined, hopping up on the top of a table beside the one Peeta was working on. "We are meeting everyone in an hour! I wanted to get to Katniss's early."

"Why?" Peeta asked, already icing his fourth cookie.

"I don't know," Finnick replied, dipping his finger in the bowl of icing beside Peeta, earning him a look from the small baker. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice," Finnick said then licked the icing off his finger while Peeta shook his head, resuming his work. "I guess I just wanted to spend some time with Annie. She's there early helping her set up, and… What?" Finnick's train of thought was derailed by an amused look from Peeta. "What?!" he asked again, but with more annoyance.

"You like her," Peeta said, a mischievous grin on his face, and a glint in his eye to match.

"Do not!" Finnick protested loudly.

"Do, too!" Peeta retaliated.

"Do not!" Finnick said even louder, grabbing the bowl of icing and setting it in his lap.

"Do, too!" came Quinn's voice from up front, making Peeta laugh and causing Finnick to jump and drop the bowl of icing on the floor, which made Peeta laugh even harder.

Rushing back at the sound of the metal bowl clanging on the floor, Quinn came in with a grin on his face, but asked in an exasperated tone, "What did you guys do now?"

Peeta was laughing too hard to answer, so Finnick just pointed to the empty bowl, the icing now coating the floor and said, "You made me do it!"

Sighing, Quinn went and got the mop, and told the boys, "Go ahead. I'll take care of this."

"Are you sure?" Peeta asked.

"Yeah," his brother replied with a sweet smile. "The icing has to be cleaned up, and a new batch mixed, before you could finish anyway, and by then you would be late, so go ahead. Besides, what kind of guy would I be if I didn't help out my little ten year old brother, and I can't trust Finnick to mix the icing, anyway. It would all be eaten before it made it to the cookies."

They both looked at Finnick who was wiping up spilled icing on the tabletop he was sitting on with his finger, and then eating it. They caught him midway and he froze, index finger pointed at his mouth, covered in frosting, his mouth wide open. After a few second he simply smiled a mischievous grin and after a few more seconds, continued eating the icing.

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Summer was over, and that made Katniss sad. Summer was her favorite season – it meant swimming in the lake with her father, laying out in the sun to dry off, and sleeping with the windows open…. So to make it not so bad, she decided to have a party at her house with her best friends to say good-bye to summer, and hello to the new school year; they were going to be 5th graders, after all. They were going to have a bonfire in the meadow by her house, and maybe even get in the lake.

As they set out the marshmallow roasters and stuff on the picnic table in the meadow, Katnis asked Annie, "You sure everyone said they could come?"

"Yes! For the millionth time!" Annie replied with an amused smile. She had come early to help her make the snacks and get everything ready, and boy was Katniss glad she had help.

"Okay, " Katniss said, then after a moment, "I'm just going to name them off to make sure we didn't forget anyone." Katniss scowled in concentration while Annie huffed in aggravation.

"Gale?" she asked.

"Yes," Annie confirmed.

"Johanna?"

"Yes."

"Finnick?"

"Yes," Annie blushed.

"Peeta?" Katniss blushed.

"Yes."

"You like Finnick, don't you?" Katniss asked Annie.

"You like Peeta, don't you?" Annie replied, to which they both giggled with rosy cheeks, and stared at the ground.

"Brainless! I'm here!" Johanna Mason shouted to the left of the two girls, who looked up and saw her walking toward them, carrying something in her hands. "Oh hi, Sunshine!" she said, giving a hug to Annie, then turning and hugging Katniss. "Here. I brought nachos."

"Nachos?" Annie asked in a curious voice. "Why nachos?"

"What?" Johanna stated more than asked. "Nachos not-yo thing? Get it? Nacho, not-yo…"

Katniss could barely muster an eye roll at the terrible joke, while Annie's face just stayed blank. "Oh, never mind," Johanna huffed.

"Heeeeeeey! We're here!" came Finnick's voice, and all three turned to see Finnick and Peeta walking up, Finn's arm slung over Peeta's shoulder.

"Hey, Finn! Hey, Bread Boy!" Johanna greeted, as they got closer. "I brought nachos!"

"Nachos?" Peeta asked in the same way Annie had, causing her to giggle, and Katniss to grin.

"What," Finnick turned to look at Peeta, arm still slung over his shoulder, "Nachos not-yo thing? Get it? Nacho, not-yo…" Peeta turned to look at the girls and found Katniss and Annie were on the ground laughing so hard, they were red in the face and no sound was coming out, except for an occasional snort from Katniss.

Johanna, on the other hand, was still standing, arms cross, a small amused smile on her face, and said, "Yeah, you're right, Brainless. That was bad."

"What was bad?" Gale asked walking up behind Finnick and Peeta, coming between them, and throwing them each into a headlock, tilting them backward so he could see their faces. Turning his head down to Peeta he greeted with a nod, "Bread Boy."

"Grumpy," Peeta replied with a grin, though his voice a bit strangled as he struggled to get out of the headlock.

Gale turned his head to Finnick, nodded and said, "Goldilocks."

"Godzilla," Finnick replied, gritting his teeth and his voice strangled like Peeta's.

Keeping them in the headlock, Gale looked up at the girls, nodding to each in turn, "Hey, Catnip, Jo, Sunshine." Then turning back to Johanna, "Jo, what was bad?"

"Oh, yeah! Well, I brought nachos and Peeta and Annie asked me why and-"

"What?" Gale cut her off. "Nachos not-yo thing? Get it? Nacho, not-yo…"

Everyone started snorting with laughter, and Finnick and Peeta tapped Gales arms while saying, "UNCLE!" over and over until he let them go, and they both crumpled to the ground in laughter.

"What?" Gale asked no one in particular. When he was greeted with more laughter, he asked again, this time more agitated, "What?!"

Jo just chuckled and said, "I'm surrounded by nuts!"

**A/N: Ta-da! If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

**A/N: Since they are all together now, this first part of this chapter will be a general POV, instead of Peeta, and the second half will be Katniss and Peeta. Oh! And for the story's sake, all the characters are the same age, except for Finnick is a year older – held back a year in school – and Gale is two years older, and in the correct grade. Also, I have used a few lines straight from THG****. I do no own them, as I have already disclaimed. As well as "How to Train your Dragon" and "Finding Nemo". Dream Works and Pixar.  
**

Chapter 4

Soon after what was later referred to as, "The Nacho Incident", Peeta's father arrived, along with his two older brothers, Quinn and Jeffery.

"Hey!" Peeta said in surprise, walking over to them. "Why are you here?"

"What," Quinn quipped, ruffling Peeta's curls, "You not want us here or something?"

"N-no, I just thought you'd sti-"

"That's alright," Jeffery cut him off. "If he doesn't want us here, then we'll just take the cake back with us…."

"Cake?" Finnick yelled from across the meadow. "Did I hear someone say 'cake'?"

Roughly, yet in a playful manner, Mr. Mellark grabbed his two eldest sons by the scruff of the neck and said with a deep laugh, "You two give your brother a break! He's with his friends." Then turning to Peeta, "You are right, Peeta. Normally we would still be at the bakery, but we closed up early due to an invitation from Mr. Everdeen."

Peeta couldn't contain his smile anymore. He was surrounded by his friends, his family… "But," his smile faded slightly. "Where's mom?"

This time there was no laughter in Mr. Mellark's voice. "She, uh," he searched his mind for the right words, only to have Peeta say them himself.

"She's not coming… Is she," he said as if it were a fact, and not a question.

"No," Mr. Mellark admitted, his face starting to turn down and match his youngest son's.

"But we're here!" Quinn jumped in.

"Yeah!" Jeffery added. "And we are going to give you all kinds of trouble," he said with a fake and mischievous grin on his face. Quinn elbowed him in the ribs. "Uh, I mean," he backtracked. "All kinds of fun. Yeah. That's it. Fun!"

The smile now back on Peeta's face, albeit a bit less happy, Mr. Mellark mirrored it as he once again grabbed his two eldest sons, carting them off with a chuckle.

Then, as if on cue, Peeta saw Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen walking towards the group, with Katniss's six year old little sister Prim running around them, smelling all the flowers and picking them until she could not carry anymore. Trailing behind her every twist and turn she made was her cat, Buttercup.

"Ugh," Katniss said from beside Peeta, making him jump. He had not heard her coming.

"How did you get here?" the shocked expression on his face causing her to giggle.

"Um, I walked? My house is, like, fifty yards that way."

"No, not here," Peeta rolled his eyes, but was unable to suppress his grin. He never could around her. "I mean, _Here_, beside me. I didn't hear you."

"I know," was all Katniss said, with a small grin, then she looked back toward her family with a scowl.

"What? Why are you scowling and saying, 'ugh'?" he asked, letting the sneak attack drop.

"That cat!" she cried. "I hate that cat!"

As if he knew she was talking about him, the cat looked up, looking right at Katniss and hissed.

"I'll still cook you," she said under her breath, making Peeta chuckle.

Seeing her cat hiss, Prim looked up and saw her sister. "Katniss!" she cried, a huge smile gracing her face as she dropped all the flowers she was carrying and ran to her sister.

"Prim!" Katniss called back, getting down onto one knee and holding her arms open for the impending impact know as Prim's hugs.

Upon their collision, the force of Prim's running knocked Katniss backward with a small shriek and Prim collapsed on top of her, still smiling that smile.

Finally cracking a real smile, Katniss looked up at her sister. "Wow, you were really flying, Little Duck!"

Prim started to giggle, but was suddenly lifted up into the air. Looking to see who it was, Katniss saw Gale holding her sister and tickling her as he whispered nonsense to her, making Prim giggle all the more as he carried her over to the picnic table and the others.

"Need a hand, Bullseye?"

Still lying on the ground, Katniss looked up to see who was speaking, but she didn't need to, she knew that voice anywhere. Smiling up at her father who had an outstretched hand ready to help her up, she grabbed his hand and said, "I've already got two of 'em, but an extra is always nice."

Laughing with his daughter, Mr. Everdeen picked her up and swung her around, her legs flailing behind her as she spun around and around. Just as he was about to set her down, her feet inches from the ground and his hands still tightly gripped around her small torso, he grinned mischievously and said, "Oop! Gotta spin you the other way now or you'll be dizzy! Gotta unwind!"

Katniss began to scream a shrill, excited scream, which quickly turned into a squeal of delight and intermittent snorts of laughter as her father swung her the other way.

With her feet finally back on the ground, she turned to see Peeta still standing there, the smile on his face as big as it always was, looking right at her. She smiled back and tried to walk the few steps over to him, but was dizzy from being spun, and reached out to grab Peeta's shoulder and steady herself.

A playful grin on his face, but concern in his eyes, he asked Katniss, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy still," and with that, they both looked at her father. "'Unwind' my butt!" she said to him, causing him to chuckle as she went on. "'Unwind' he said. 'Go the other way or you'll be dizzy' he said."

Mr. Everdeen had his chin tucked to his chest looking rather guilty, but the grin on his face said otherwise.

Mrs. Everdeen walked up behind him and crossed her arms. Shaking her head as she spoke, she said, "Mark, you know that never works."

Jumping at the sound of her voice, Mr. Everdeen whirled around. "Joyce, how did you get there?"

"I walked," she stated, a grin creeping up her face. "Our house is only a short walk that way, Mark, you know that."

"No, not here as in the meadow," Mr. Everdeen said rolling his eyes. "I mean, oh never mind" he finished.

Katniss was trying to suppress her snorts of laughter, as was Peeta, at the exchange between her parents that almost exactly mirrored theirs not five minutes earlier.

Turning to walk toward the picnic table, Katniss let go of Peeta's shoulder and quickly realized she was still dizzy. Before she could even say his name, Peeta had grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers, and helped to steady her.

"You okay?" he asked again.

Shaking her head no, Katniss gripped his hand tighter and stared at the ground in an attempt to hide the fierce blush now spread on her cheeks. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at their joined hands then up to his face, and saw he was rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand like he was nervous, and the tips of his ears were bright red. Behind her she could hear her parent's whispering and could have sworn she heard the words "Katniss", "Peeta", and "Cute".

"Well, then," Peeta said, finally breaking the silence. "I'll help you walk over there."

As she felt him grip her hand even harder, she said, "Cross your heart?"

Peeta lifted their joined hands and crossed them in an "x" over his heart. "Always."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After that, the day just seemed to fly by. It was full of fun things like swimming in the lake, playing games like hide-and-seek and capture the flag in the woods surrounding the meadow, and a delicious meal of hotdogs that had been roasted on the fire while they watched the sunset topped it all off.

Annie, Mrs. Everdeen, and Prim looked on in disgust as Peeta, Finnick, and Gale had a hot dog eating contest to see who got the first smore.

Mr. Everdeen, Mr. Mellark, Quinn, Jeffery, Johanna, and Katniss, on the other hand, were gathered in a circle around the picnic table, loudly cheering them on.

Gale gave up first. "If I keep eating these, I won't be able to eat a smore, anyway!" was his reasoning, to which everyone agreed.

Several minutes later, Finnick grabbed his stomach and moaned. "I can't do this! This is impossible!"

"You didn't say that while you were inhaling the icing earlier today," Quinn jabbed at him, to which Finnick replied by sticking his tongue out at Quinn and mimicking him in a high pitched voice, making everyone laugh.

"That means Peeta is the winner!" Mr. Mellark said proudly.

Jeffery grabbed Peeta and hoisted him up onto his shoulders as everyone cheered.

Using a hotdog bun as a pretend mic, Quinn held it up and said in a very loud and exaggerated voice, "Mr. Mellark, you are the new Panem Meadow Hotdog Eating Contest champion!" Everybody cheered, then quieted down when Quinn began speaking again, "What do you have to say to that?"

Peeta wore his usual grin and replied into the hotdog bun outstretched in Quinn's hand, "I say, Grumpy, Finn, you both did very well…. BUT I WON!" Everyone erupted in cheers and laughter.

"What was your method for stuffing your face?" Quinn asked into the bun, quickly turning it back to Peeta for his reply.

"Just eat normally! I learned that a long time ago from a very good friend of mine in a cheese bun eating contest," Peeta said into the bun, then looked at Katniss.

She was smiling, but her cheeks started to turn pink.

"Yeah, that was fun," Gale said. "Until you threw that cookie at my head."

Everyone looked on in confusion as Gale, Peeta, Katniss, and Mr. Mellark laughed, remembering the first day they met.

After being set down, Peeta went to collect his prize to make the very first smore of the evening. Gale and Finnick looked on, nearly drooling as he held the marshmallow over the fire.

Katniss stood beside him, holding two gram crackers with a piece of chocolate in the middle so that Peeta could make it without having to go anywhere. After Peeta had the marshmallow to his liking, he turned and held it on the end of the skewer between the two gram crackers, and Katniss smooshed it between them while pulling it off the skewer.

She held it out to him, but he shook his head. Confused, she said, "Peeta, you won the first smore! Here you go."

"No. I made it for you," he said softly, his ears turning red again and he stared at the fire.

Katniss didn't know what to say, so she went ahead and ate it.

Johanna smacked Gale's chest with the back of her hand, and he looked at her as if she had two heads. "Why couldn't you win and do that for me? I want chocolate, Toothless."

"Toothless?" Gale asked.

"Yeah. Like from 'How to Train Your Dragon'? You are a lot like the dragon Toothless. He looks big, and scary, but he's really just a giant puppy."

"Yeah, Dragon Boy," Finnick mocked. Gale only had to look at him for Finnick to hide behind Annie with a grimace and whisper, "Sorry, Dragon Boy."

Slowly everyone ended up sitting around the fire. Katniss was, of course, between Gale and Peeta, with Gale on her left, and Peeta to her right. Next to Peeta was Finnick, then Annie, Quinn, Jeffery, Mr. Mellark, Mr. Everdeen with Prim in his lap and Buttercup weaving between his feet. Next to him was Mrs. Everdeen, then Johanna, who was next to Gale.

Katniss leaned over to whisper to Peeta, "You know, I tried to drown that cat once."

Peeta could only adopt a look of sheer horror as he said a little too loudly, "Why on earth would you do that?"

"Shhhhhh! Because, he followed me to my tree house in the woods, and I didn't want anyone else to find it, so-"

"So you tried to drown a cat. How would that help? It's a cat. They can't talk, Katniss. Besides, who was he gonna tell?"

Katniss scowled at him, "Good point. But still. No one, not even that ugly cat, gets to know where my mission control is."

Peeta smiled at the thought. She had a mission control like he used to in the bakery.

"Not even me? I let you into my mission control!"

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"The bakery! All those times I let you come and help me ice cookies?"

"You mean the things that were like stones covered in warts?"

Peeta glared at her, but it melted when she giggled.

"Uh-oh, Mr. Grumpy Gills," she said in a fake pouty voice.

"Seriously? My favorite movie and I let you into my mission control, but I can't come to yours?" He really hoped she'd say yes. "Does Gale know where it is?"

"Nope."

Finally. Something he could share with her without Gale, and the rest of the gang. He wanted to spend time with just her.

"Please?" he whined, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," she scowled. "But only if you make me cheesebuns and real, edible cookies to eat while we are there. Better make some wart-stones, too. We can throw them at any trespassers."

They both crossed their heart to meet up at Katniss's house at dawn, just the two of them, then go to the tree house. He was so happy she had agreed to let him into her secret. She had almost backed out when he said the cheese buns and cookies would have to be leftovers if they were meeting that early.

"Alright, alright!" Mr. Everdeen called, addressing the whole group. "Today we went swimming in the lake, played capture the flag-"

"And we won!" Gale shouted while high-fiving Finnick.

"Played capture the flag," Mr. Everdeen said again, pointedly at the boys, causing them to melt down to their seats on the ground. "Hide-and-seek, and just got to have a day with all of our loved ones. This is a day you should all remember. As you grow older, things get harder, but if you have people you love and trust surrounding you, you will never be alone. There will always be someone there to pull you through, no matter the circumstance. You all have a very special friendship," he looked at each child in turn as he continued, "don't you ever let that go. You may have peculiar nicknames for each other, most of which I do not understand," he smiled as they all giggled, "but I know you all have each other's backs, and will always protect one another."

The happy atmosphere that had encompassed the group not moments before now felt heavy and slightly sad.

Sensing this, Mr. Mellark jumped in, "Aw, come on, Mark! Way to kill the mood." All the kids laughed, so he ran with it. "Harsh my mellow, down my vibe-"

"Dad! Stop!" Peeta said through snorts of laughter, but everyone was laughing just as hard as he was, so Mr. Mellark continued.

"Whatever, dude," and a new round of laughter went around the circle. "Tell you what. To atone for my good friend Mark's mellow harshing words," more giggles, accompanied by groans of annoyance by some, "I will tell you all a story. A wonderful story. A fantastic story. A story so amazing, you won't even believe it."

"So it's a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious story?" Finnick grinned, being rewarded with "Boo!"s and crumpled napkins thrown at him.

"In a sense," Mr. Mellark grinned back at Finnick, causing his grin to melt into pure intrigue.

"Now _this_ I gotta hear."

Mr. Mellark could not contain his own laughter anymore, and it's deep, infectious waves caused everyone to smile and look to the eldest Mellark. Looking from face to face hey saw anticipation, happiness, and love. "Then, on the other hand, it's getting late, so…"

Everyone moaned and a chorus of "No!"s echoed around the fire, causing him to flash a grin that let them know he was joking, and earned crumpled napkins thrown at him. "Ow!" he said jokingly as one bounced off his arm, and he reached to rub the spot. "Those things hurt!"

"I know, right?" Finnick ducked as more were tossed his way. "Missed me," he grinned, and then screamed as one hit him right in the face. He looked at the faces around the fire, fuming, and noticed everyone was pointing towards Johanna and Katniss, who looked at each other, then back to Finnick, each pointing at the other.

"Good thing you two are girls, otherwise I'd come over there and-"

"And what?" Johanna asked him.

"Yes, Finn, what would you do?" Katniss added.

Peeta, Gale, Quinn, and Jeffery were snickering.

"Good thing we're friends," he said, glowering at the two girls.

"Now, now," Mr. Mellark said, trying to defuse the situation, but unable to hide the small smile he had on his face. "That story…. It is a story beyond all stories. Utterly amazing. Extre-"

"Oh, just tell them already!" Mr. Everdeen said exasperatedly, Prim trying very hard not to fall asleep in his lap.

"Will you help me?" Mr. Mellark asked his friend.

"Oh, why not," Mr. Everdeen relented. "But you start."

"You two are acting like children!" Peeta mused.

"Yeah! Get on with it!" Katniss said.

"Okay, Okay," Mr. Mellark then cleared his throat. "This story begins in a far off land, on an island with no name. It was a small island, and was inhabited by many odd creatures. There were monkeys the size of ants, frogs that sang instead of croaked, tigers that were pink with purple stripes, and lightning bugs as big as birds. But the most special creature that lived there was a bird that flew only at night, leaving stardust in it's wake, and it sang a song so beautiful, the stars themselves seems to echo it right back. People would come to the island, their only task to find 'The Bird of the Stars', but no one could ever find it. It was as if at daytime, it vanished into thin air." The children gasped. "But my theory, is that it flew back up to the stars to wait until nightfall. I almost caught it one night-"

"Wait, WHAT?" Peeta said. "YOU went to try to find this bird? It's real?"

"Yes it is," Mr. Everdeen piped in, quietly so as not to wake sleeping Prim. "I was there, too."

"WHAT?" Katniss shouted, earning her "shhhhhhh!"s.

"Yes, I was, Bullseye," he chuckled. "That is how Mr. Mellark and I met. We went with a team of researchers. I was there to study the bird's song, and Carl here was the chef," he said putting his hand on Mr. Mellarks shoulder. "That pearl necklace your mother has?" Katniss nodded. "I pulled it right out of an oyster myself on that very island. Well, the pearl, not the whole necklace, of course," he finished with a wink.

"Wait, so this place is real?" Finnick asked, and both of the fathers nodded. "We have to go!"

"Maybe someday we can all go. We never found the buried treasure, did we Carl?"

"No, Mark, we never did. It's probably still there, waiting for someone to…" Mr. Mellark trailed off with a grin growing on his face as he notice every set of child's eyes on him.

Looking at her watch, Mrs. Everdeen gasped and said, "Mark, you have work early in the morning, and I know the Mellark's all have to be up with the sun. It's already 10 PM, and you still have to drive the others home."

"You're right," Mr. Everdeen said, earning him "Aw!"s and "No!"s from all the kids, but promised to tell them more before school started in a few days.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After everyone had said their goodbyes, the kids got in a group huddle before they got into Mr. Everdeen's car to go home.

"We have got to go there and find that treasure," Finnick said.

"Agreed, Goldilocks, but when and how? I mean, I'm just starting high school, you guys are starting 5th grade…" Gale trailed off.

"Brainless, you've gotta pump your dad for more info," Johanna told Katniss. "You, too, Bread Boy."

Katniss and Peeta nodded.

"I don't know," Annie finally piped up. "It all sounds so dangerous…."

"Oh, come on, Sunshine, don't be so…. Overcast."

Everyone moaned at Johanna's attempt to redeem her nacho joke from earlier in the evening.

"Hey! It was worth a shot!" she protested.

Finally they all agreed to meet up the next day back in the meadow and try to come up with a plan, all crossing their hearts that they would be there. Saying goodbye once again, all but Katniss, Peeta and his family piled into Mr. Everdeen's car and were off to their own homes.

"Dad, can you pick me up in front of Kat's house? I want to walk her over there," Peeta asked his dad.

"Sure, son," he winked, leading his two eldest sons toward the car.

After his family was a ways away, Peeta turned to Katniss and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers just like earlier. She looked at him with her usual scowl of confusion.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't still dizzy."

Her scowl melted as the shy grin turned up her lips, making it's way to her eyes.

"There we go. Gotta turn that frown upside down!"

She laughed, her nose scrunched up, and her eyes twinkling under the stars. Peeta decided there was not a better sound in the world than her laugh, and that realization made him grin.

"So, if our dad's were originally in this together, than we need to be in it together, too," he told her. She seemed to ponder this, than nodded her agreement, the smile still on her face.

He realized they hadn't started walking yet, so he turned to her and said, "Uh, you know, you're house is about fifty yards that way."

She play punched him in the arm. "I know that, Bread Boy."

"I know that you know that, Kat."

"Well, I know that you know that I know that, Peeta."

All he could do was smile. He couldn't stop.

"What?" she asked, "Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, it's just…. I was thinking of all the adventures we could have on that island. But there is some scary stuff there, too. But like your dad said, if we stick together, we can have each other's backs, right?"

"Right. Because that's what you and I do, protect each other."

"Right."

They still had yet to take a step towards her house.

"Let's play a game," Peeta said, starting to walk.

"Okay," Katniss walked beside him, still holding hands.

"It's called 'Real or not real'. You ask a question, and the other person responds with, 'Real' or 'Not real". Understand?"

"Yeah. You go first."

"Sure. Your favorite color is green, real or not real?"

Smiling and looking at him, she answered, "Your remembered…. Real. Your favorite color is orange… like a sunset, real or not real?"

Now it was his turn to smile. "You remembered. Real. You and I are best friends, real or not real?"

"Real. You will never stop making cheesebuns, real or not real?"

Peeta laughed. "Priorities, priorities."

She stopped walking and he turned to face her. "Real or not real?" she asks again.

"Real."

She sighed in relief, making Peeta laugh, and they started walking again

Peeta looked at her face and said, "You like me, real or not real?"

Katniss stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. She scowled for a moment, but it quickly went away as that shy smile came back, and her cheeks went pink under the moonlight.

"Real or not real?" he asked again, looking her right in the eyes.

"Real," she finally whispered, then louder, "Real. I like you, Peeta."

"Cross your heart?"

She brought their intertwined hands up to her chest, and drew an "x" across her heart, just like he had earlier and whispered. "Always."

Realizing their faces were mere inches apart, Peeta gulped and ran his free hand through his hair. _It's now or never_, he thought. Peeta closed the short distance between them and gave her a small kiss. After he pulled away, he took their now shaky hands and, trying to steady them drew an "x" across his own heart and whispered, "Always."

They both snapped their heads towards Katniss's house when they heard Quinn whistle. "Nice, little bother! Attention, Panem, I would like to introduce you to the Starry Eyed Lovers of the District 12 ISD."

Jeffery was beside him making kissy faces, puckering his lips and making obnoxious kissing sounds.

Mr. Mellark was behind them, smiling at Katniss and Peeta as he grabbed his two boys by the ear and ushered them back into the Everdeen's house through the back door.

Katniss and Peeta were both fiercely blushing.

"I'm sorry," Peeta said. "I had no idea we were already here. I wasn't paying attention."

"It's okay. Always, remember?"

"Always."

**A/N: Eh? Eh? If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

Chapter 5

The next day, Peeta woke up at five o'clock in the morning having hardly slept a wink the night before from the sheer excitement of the day ahead.

Normally his alarm would go off, and he would groan as he rolled over to smack the snooze button. After repeating this several times, his mother would come into his room yelling, "Peeta Russell Mellark! Get up! I am tired of hearing that alarm go off every five minutes!" At this point, he usually sat up in bed, stretched his arms above his head, which was most often accompanied by a yawn, then rubbed his face with his hands as if wiping away the sleep, and would slowly get out of bed, shuffling his feet to the bathroom.

Clapping her hands his mother would follow behind him and say, "Chop, chop! Come on! You're so slow! Get moving! Move faster or I'll-" and he would cut her off with the closing of the bathroom door behind him, through which he would always hear her huff in annoyance and mutter something under her breath as her footsteps retreated.

But this morning, he jumped up the first time his alarm went off, quickly turning it off so as not to bother anyone still asleep. After quickly going to the bathroom and brushing his teeth, he threw on the clothes he had laid out the night before, put on his old Indiana Jones hat, and quickly, but quietly, made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Grabbing the bag of leftover cheese buns, sugar cookies, and the bag of "wart rocks" he had stayed up making the night before, he double-checked to make sure everything was there, and then he was out the door and into the dark morning.

It was a short walk to Katniss's house with his quick, excited pace this morning. When he got within sight of the house, he saw Katniss beside it, wearing her father's large, leather jacket, and playing with a flashlight. Flashlight! He knew he forgot something! Oh, well. He ran the last little bit, not wanting to make her wait any longer.

When she heard his heavy footfalls as he began to run, Katniss looked up toward him and held the flashlight under her face as if she were telling a ghost story.

As he got closer, she could make out the grin on his face. "What're you doing?" he asked.

She didn't say anything. She just stared at him, flashlight still under her face.

"Katniss?"

Nothing. Peeta's smile began to fade.

"Kat, come on, you're starting to freak me out."

Katniss stayed unmoving.

"Ka-"

"BOO!"

Peeta jumped, startled by her sudden movement, and Katniss was rolling on the ground laughing.

"Kat, that was not funny!"

"Oh, I think it was!"

"You nearly made me spill the cheese buns!"

She quickly jumped up from the ground, no sign amusement left on her face.

"But you didn't, right?"

Peeta didn't answer.

"Peeta?"

Nothing. Katniss started to get frantic.

"Peeta, I'm sorry, but I need to know if the chee-"

"BOO!"

This time Katniss jumped, dropping the flashlight while Peeta laughed as he said, "You're right! That was funny!"

Katniss stooped down to pick up the flashlight, sending a scowl in his direction. Once she stood back up, she lightly punched him in the arm.

"And to think I'm taking you to my Mission Control. Maybe I should reconsider. I mean, I don't think I can deal with cheese bun spillers."

"Well then, good thing I didn't spill them."

"Touché."

Katniss grabbed a backpack that was leaning against the house, slung it on her back and began to walk, so Peeta fell into step beside her.

Handing her a cheese bun, he said, "Thank you again, Kat. I know how much you like your privacy, and I'm really glad that you're letting me come to your secret hideout."

"Yeah, yeah," she took a bite of cheese bun, "just don't get all mushy and stuff on me and make me regret it," she said nonchalantly, but the grin on her face gave her away.

"Sir, yes sir!"

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Mam, yes mam!"

Nodding once in approval and smiling as she chewed, she said through a mouth full of cheese bun, "That's right!"

A short time, some small talk, and three cheese buns later, they were at her tree house. The sun was just starting to come up, bathing everything in twilight, as they looked up into the tree tops.

"How do you get up?" Peeta asked. He didn't see a ladder or staircase or anything.

"Well, I have a rope ladder, but usually I just climb up."

"I, uh, I'm not very good a climbing trees," Peeta admitted, digging the toe of his shoe into the dirt and staring at the ground.

"That's okay," Katniss said sweetly, causing him to look up at her with a sheepish smile. "I don't want you to drop any of those cheese buns, anyway! I'll just climb up and let down the ladder for you."

"Cross your heart?"

She crossed it and added, "Of course! I'm not gonna leave the cheese buns- I mean you down here!"

"Thanks." His smile got a little brighter, and the tips of his ears a little redder.

After Peeta finally got into the tree house, he barely got a chance to look around before he was pulled by Katniss over to the window, which was just a square hole in the wall, and she pointed to the rising sun just starting to peak out over the horizon, painting the sky a light orange. "Look. Your favorite color."

Peeta smiled as he looked out over the scene. "Yes, it is." Noticing a tree branch very close to the window, he reached out and plucked a leaf from it, handing it to Katniss.

She scowled in confusion, looking from the leaf resting on her palm and back to him.

"Look," he pointed to the leaf, touching it with his index finger, "Your favorite color."

Katniss didn't know she could smile so big. "Yes, it is."

They both stared at each other for several minutes, unmoving, with goofy grins on their faces.

Peeta was the first to break the silence. Taking off his Indiana Jones hat and running his hand through his mop of curls, he turned and looked around the interior of the tree house. "So. This is your Mission Control?"

Shaking her head to clear the fog as she came out of the daze, but unable to shake off her grin, she stuttered, "Uh, yeah. Yeah, this is it."

Looking around, Peeta wanted to take in every little detail. It was very simple, not much was inside. There was a table and two chairs that looked handmade, probably by Mr. Everdeen, on top of the table was a large glass jar full of stones and a book that looked like a kind of scrapbook. Hanging on the wall was a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

Walking over to the table, Peeta sat down in a chair, and picked up the jar to get a closer look at the stones. Katniss walked over and set her backpack on the chair opposite Peeta, unzipped it, and pulled out three thermoses, setting one on the table and holding the other two. "Orange juice, chocolate milk, or hot chocolate?"

"Surprise me."

"Okay. Hot chocolate it is."

"Aw, man! I wanted orange juice!"

Even though his voice whined, Katniss knew the grin he was trying so hard to smother meant he was just messing with her.

Pulling two disposable coffee cups out of her bag, she filled them both with hot chocolate, noticing Peeta staring longingly at the steam rising from the cups, then put all the thermoses back in the backpack, set it on the floor, and sat down in the chair, pushing a cup over to Peeta.

"Thanks!" he grabbed the cup, and set his hat on top of the table.

Holding her cup right below her lips, inhaling the sweet, rich smell of the drink, she stared at the hat, a million memories flooding her mind.

"What?" Peeta asked her, noticing her stare. "Is there dirt or something on my hat?" He picked it up to look it over, but didn't see anything wrong with it. Looking back to Katniss, he saw her grey eyes sparkling as if all the stars of the universe were stored behind them. "What?"

"Nothing," she said, a small, genuine smile now growing on her face. "Nothing. I just…. I just…. Looking at that hat brought back a lot of memories."

"Good ones, I hope."

"Of course! We only have good ones."

They stared at each other again, the same goofy grins on their face as earlier. After what seemed like an eternity Katniss was the one to break the silence this time.

"We have done some crazy stuff. Some really silly, really stupid, but really fun stuff."

"Yeah…. We sure have." Peeta rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, and stared down at the table to keep from doing something silly like blushing, when he noticed the book on the table. It had a little window in the cover to put a photo, but instead of a picture it had a piece of paper with the words "My Adventure Book" written across it in crayon, every letter a different color, and it was unmistakably Katniss's handwriting.

Reaching for it, he looked up to her and saw she was watching him. "May I?"

She nodded, and he opened it up to the first page.

On the inside of the cover, in the same handwriting and in crayon, but only one color, green, of course, were the words "This book belongs to Katniss Everdeen". Peeta smiled at the handwriting of a much younger Katniss, and looked to the title page. In much neater handwriting in a pen instead of crayon were the words "For Katniss, from Daddy." He glanced up to see Katniss staring at the page with tears threatening to spill over and a small, sad smile on her face.

"Go ahead. You can read it. I trust you."

Mimicking her sad smile, Peeta nodded and crossed his heart. Turning his attention back to the page, he continued reading silently. "Bullseye, you are my morning and my night, my sun and my moon, the arrow to my bow, and the song in my heart. You are my little girl. I will always love you, and will always be there to go on adventures with you. Life is a great big adventure, and so much can happen that we forget all the steps we took to get where we are now. So I want you to use this book to keep track of all the memories that make you who you are. The people who you love and the things you do together. I went ahead and started it for you. This is one of my favorite memories. Now, go out there and have fun! And make sure you always come back to tell me how you beat the dragon or saved the world. Love you always, Daddy."

Turning to the first page, he saw a photo of Mr. Everdeen sitting on the edge of a hospital bed holding what must have been baby Katniss, looking down at her with the most beautiful and happy smile, a smile Peeta saw every time Mr. Everdeen looked at Katniss. Mrs. Everdeen was on the bed behind him, looking over his shoulder at Katniss with the same smile. Underneath the photo Mr. Everdeen had written, "You see? This is one of my favorite memories. Now, go make your own."

Looking at Katniss again he noticed tear tracks down her cheeks, her grey eyes looking like storm clouds, her face a blank expression as she stared at the photo from across the table. He reached out and took the now cold hot chocolate out of her hand, setting it on the table and replacing it with his hand in hers. She linked their fingers like he had the night before and they both squeezed as hard as they could.

After a few minutes, still staring at the photo, she whispered, "I don't know why that makes me so sad. I mean, it makes me so happy, but at the same time, it just makes me sad. I guess, I mean…. I think it's just that looking at that photo, I realize that everything goes by so fast." She finally looked at him, looking straight into those blue eyes she loved so much. Her voice quivered as she continued to whisper, "I know, I know, we're only ten years old, but still. I feel like I met you yesterday. But at the same time I feel like I have known you forever. You are my best friend, Peeta. I hope you know that."

"I do."

"I was never very good at making friends. I only had Gale, then, we met you that day, and you were wearing that silly hat," she chuckled through her tears.

"Hey! This hat is not silly! It is awesome!" Peeta said playfully, placing the hat on his head, making her laugh again.

"You are right. It is an awesome hat. And that awesome hat brought me you. And with you came Finn and Jo and Annie, and your brothers, and your dad… Thank you."

"You're welcome, but I don't think the hat brought us to you. It may be awesome, but it's not magical or anything."

Laughing, Katniss nodded in agreement, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "You're probably right. Now, go on. Turn the page."

Turning his attention back to the book, he turned the page and took in a sharp breath when he saw the photo.

It was from the day they met, his father had taken it. He remembered telling his father after the cheese bun contest, "Dad, now that we have beat our tummy monsters, we have to take a picture as proof! I will have to put it in my report after my mission." His father had smiled at him as he always did, and agreed. After rummaging through his desk his father had found the camera, and had taken a picture of the three of them in the booth, all grinning, arms slung over each other's shoulders, Katniss in the middle, and the sun set coming in through the large window behind them. His father had said, "Say cheese buns!" while he lined up the shot.

Underneath the photo, in Katniss's younger handwriting and crayon, it said, "I made a new friend today! His name is Peeta Mellark and he is very pretty."

He paused, looking up at Katniss with a mischievous grin. "You thought I was _pretty_?"

"Shut up."

He laughed and went back to reading, this time out loud. "We defeated tummy monsters and I got to throw a cookie at Gale's head. It was a good day."

Peeta could not contain it anymore. He threw his head back and laughed a deep laugh. Soon, he was laughing so hard, tears were streaming out of the edges of his eyes even though they were clamped shut, no sound was coming out, and his face was red.

He grabbed his stomach and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. But before he could start laughing again, Katniss extended her leg under the table, put her foot on the front of his chair and pushed. With his weight already leaning toward the back of the chair, the chair went toppling backwards, causing his breath meant to calm him down to become a gasp of surprise and a yelp of terror.

"Kaaaaaaaat!" he yelled from the floor.

Katniss stayed in her chair, peering at him over the table. They both suddenly burst into laughter. Finally, they calmed down enough that Katniss got up and went over to him, holding out a hand to help him up.

"Thanks." Grabbing her hand, instead of pulling himself up, he yanked her down to the floor, eliciting a shriek of horror from Katniss as she fell beside him.

She sat up, scowling at him, so he mimicked her expression, adding in a fake pouty voice, "Mr. Grumpy Gills…."

Still scowling, but a small grin breaking through Katniss retorted, "That's Mrs. Grumpy Gills to you!"

Something in his smile made Katniss curious. "What? What now?"

Brushing a piece of hair behind her ear, the smile on his face never fading, he said, "Nothing. I just wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever."

Katniss didn't know what to do or say. She found herself blushing as she sang a song she heard on one of Prim's cartoons, "Forever, and ever, is a very long time, Pooh!"

Peeta looked at her in a way as if to say "Um, what?", but then smiled and said, "Oh, d-d-d-dear!" Mimicking Pooh's sidekick, Piglet.

They both got up, chuckling, and Peeta picked up his chair and set it beside Katniss's.

"Why are you sitting over here?" she asked him.

"So we can look at the book together."

She blushed and stared at the table, smiling.

"Plus," he added, "you can't push me over if I'm right beside you."

Looking back at him, she grinned as if she had just accepted a challenge. "Don't count on it, Bread Boy."

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They spent a few more hours in the tree house, looking through the book, laughing at the memories. Every few pages Katniss's writing got better, showing the passing time, and it progressed from crayon, to pencil, and finally to pen, but all were green.

Peeta turned to the next page and found it was blank. They were only half way through the book, so he flipped through the remaining pages, finding them all blank.

"Still have more adventures to have, 'eh?"

"You know it, Bread Boy."

"Well, I for one am honored that I have already made it to the pages of your book, and look forward to the next time we do something stupid enough to make it's way onto a page."

"Well, how about right now? We could freeze this moment, just like you wanted."

"What do you mean?"

Katniss reached into the backpack and pulled out one of those cameras that spits out the photo right after you take it.

"No way!" Peeta said.

"Totally, dude," Katniss said, mimicking his father from the night before.

Putting his head in his hands Peeta groaned, "Ugh. Don't remind me."

"Fine, dude. I'll quit harshing your mellow."

"Kat."

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"What I was saying was we can document today. I mean, it's not something stupid, but it's something…. Epic. You being here, me sharing my tree house _and_ my book with you…. We have to document this."

Peeta readily agreed, standing beside Katniss. "Let's make silly faces!"

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Boys."

They took four photos. The first was Peeta puffing his cheeks and crossing his eyes while Katniss stuck her tongue out the left side of her mouth and looked up and to the right. The second was them just smiling. The third photo, Katniss said she wanted another one of them smiling to keep for herself, and right before she clicked the camera, she turned and kissed Peeta on his cheek. The photo turned out perfectly, Peeta smiling a big, genuinely happy smile, and Katniss kissing his cheek, her eyebrows raised, and a grin turning up the side of her lips.

Peeta said he wanted one just like that for himself, tapping his cheek where she had just kissed, making her roll her eyes.

"Peeta, you've had enough adventures today. I am not going to do that again."

"Fine, then at least let's take another smiling one so that I can take that one home."

"Fine!" Katniss huffed. "I'll take it on 'three', so don't blink."

They got cheek to cheek for one last photo, and Katniss counted, "One… Two…" and right as he heard the 'th' of 'three', he turned and kissed her on the cheek and she snapped the shot.

It turned out just like the third one, with Katniss looking genuinely happy and Peeta grinning as he planted a smooch on her cheek.

Katniss handed him the photo, scowling, and attached the first two into the book with some double-sided tape she had brought in the backpack.

"This is great!" Peeta said looking at the photo, then at Katniss. She was writing under the photos with a green ink pen. Walking to stand behind her, he read over her shoulder as she wrote under the silly faced one.

"Brought Indiana Jones to my tree house today. He brought wart-stones, but we didn't have to use them. Maybe I will use them to practice my aim later – I'll throw them at Buttercup."

"Katniss!"

"Oh, hush!" Then she moved on to the smiling photo.

"He may pull me down when I try to help him up, granted I made him fall in the first place, but he has redeeming qualities. Like cheese buns." Then she drew a line to an empty space at the top of the page, made it into an arrow, and wrote, "Oh. And also this. 'Look. Your favorite color.'" and she taped the leaf he had given her that morning right above her words, the arrow pointing right to it.

She then took the photo of her kissing his cheek and wrote the date on the back, then took Peeta's out of his hand, and did the same, handing it back to him.

"I have proof. I will need this when I turn in my report after my mission," Peeta said, mimicking what he had told his father before that first photo three years ago.

Katniss finally smiled at him. "Just make sure it says, "Eyes only" on the envelope. Don't wan that proof getting into the wrong hands." she closed the book and began putting away the camera and tape.

"Hey, Kat? Do you think I could borrow that book? I want to show my dad that photo he took. Is that okay? I'll give it back to you when school starts."

She seemed hesitant at first, but said okay. She put it in her backpack and zipped it up.

"Oh!" she shouted, making Peeta jump.

"What? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but you said school, and it made me think of our friends and then the camp fire last night, and then before they left we all agr-"

"Oh!" Peeta shouted. "We've got to go!"

**A/N: ****Ta-da! **If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters and The Hunger Games universe goes to Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 6

Peeta climbed down the ladder, then Katniss rolled it up, into the tree house, and climbed back down the tree. When she got to the bottom, Peeta had a cheese bun and glass of orange juice from both of them.

As he handed her hers, she said, "How did you get the thermos? I have the backpack."

"A good magician never reveals his secrets."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Come on, Bread Boy, we've gotta get moving. We're going to be late."

Peeta started hopping, taking a bite between each hop, and sang the song from Alice in Wonderland. "We're late!" Bite, hop. Then, muffled through cheese bun, "We're late!" Bite, hop, muffled. "For a very important date!" With one last hop, he smiled proudly when he landed, turning to look at Katniss, only to see that she was behind him, standing still with a look on her face he could only guess was some fort of terror. "What?" he asked, his mouth still full of cheese buns.

She shook her head and started walking again. As she walked past him, she said, "Sometimes I question your sanity."

Swallowing his mouthful, he fell into step behind her and muttered under his breath, "Right back at ya, Kat."

"Heard that. No more OJ for you."

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When they got back to the meadow, all their friends were sitting at the picnic table waiting for them.

"Hey, Losers!" Johanna shouted as soon as they came into view, "What took you so long? Where were you? I want a cheese bun, too!"

"Hey, Bread Boy!" Gale hollered at Peeta, "Why are you rubbing your butt?"

"Dude!" Finnick was next, "I want a cheese bun, too!"

"Hi, Katniss, Peeta!" Annie smiled.

Shaking her head, Katniss turned to Peeta with a smile. "They are annoying."

As soon as they were within range to talk to each other normally, Katniss started to list off her answers. First to Johanna, "We lost track of time, none of your business, and they are all gone." Then to Gale, "Really? You are weird." Turning to Finnick, "Like I said, they are gone." And lastly to Annie, and finally with a smile, "Hello, Annie!"

Johanna huffed in annoyance, Gale looked unsatisfied with her answer, Finnick pouted, and Annie beamed.

"Gale," Peeta said, turning to him, "I am rubbing my butt because I fell trying to keep up with Miss Huntress Swiftfoot here," he said, gesturing to Katniss beside him with his thumb.

Gale nodded with an understanding smile, and Katniss pulled a cheese bun out of the backpack.

Finnick and Johanna looked outraged. Both rising to their feet they talked over each other. "But-" "You said-" "That's not fair-" "Come on!" "Brainless!"

Holding up her hand to silence them, Katniss simply chewed on her bite of cheese bun until Johanna stopped and crossed her arms over her chest, one hip jutted out to the side and a glare on her face, and Finnick was pouting, but trying to look angry.

"Are you finished?" Katniss asked.

They both just glared at her in return.

"I said 'they are gone'. Your supply is gone. I ate them all. These are mine."

Gale and Annie started to chuckle and snicker, and Gale said, "Come on, Catnip. Let them have one, at least to shut them up."

Finnick and Johanna turned their glares onto Gale and he simply shrugged. They quickly looked back to Katniss.

"No. My meadow, my rules," she said.

Johanna rolled her eyes, and sat down with a huff, arms still crossed.

Finnick just plopped down, his frown winning over finally.

"Now, down to business. My dad didn't tell me anymore last night, and I haven't seen him yet today-"

"Wait," Gale said. "How have you not seen him today? I know you always get up early, and he doesn't leave for work until ten in the morning."

Katniss looked at the ground, and dug her toe into the dirt while Peeta's cheeks and the tips of his ears started to flush pink.

After a moment, Katniss went on, "As I was saying," looking up at the group again, "I haven't seen him yet today and he didn't tell me anymore last night, so I really don't know what to do yet."

"Well, this was just a waste of time, then!" Johanna threw her hands up in the air.

"Yeah! No cheese buns, no meeting…." Finnick added.

Peeta pulled Katniss aside. "Kat, I think we should show them your tree house."

"What? No!"

"Wait! Hear me out. They are upset that they came here for nothing, so tell them that this was the meet up spot for you to lead them to… The headquarters of our mission."

"That is basically the same thing as Mission Control, you dork."

"I know, but they can have their headquarters, and we can still have our mission control."

He smiled at her sweetly, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Fine."

Peeta turned to the group, and relayed what he had just told Katniss, leaving out the parts about mission control, and that it was a last minute change. "We just came from there. We were getting it ready."

"Wait, you have a tree house?" Gale asked Katniss.

She could only nod.

Sensing tension, Finnick jumped in and said, "I'm not going without cheese buns."

Right then, Quinn and Jeffery came walking up to the table.

"So you started the meeting without us," Quinn said, with mock disappointment in his voice.

Jeffery shook his head from side to side and made "tisk, tisk" sounds.

"Please tell me you brought cheese buns?" Finnick asked looking up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Peeta asked.

"We overheard your little powwow huddle last night and-"

"We want in," Jeffery cut Quinn off, earning him a glare.

"But please tell me that you brought cheese buns?" Finnick reiterated.

Quinn pulled a bag out from behind his back, grinning. "Let us come, and we will share."

Peeta had slyly opened the backpack, and pulled out the bag of lumpy cookies they had brought incase of trespassers at the tree house. He handed a few to Katniss, and she looked at them, and back to him, a devilish grin on her face.

Gale had noticed Peeta pulling out the bag, and Peeta had tilted his head ever so slightly to motion him over to them while Finnick and his brothers talked about the buns. The same devilish smile on his face, he walked over to them casually, and took a few from the bag.

When he had turned back to face the older Mellark brothers, they were looking at them in curiosity. "What're you doing?" Quinn asked.

Katniss, Peeta, and Gale all raised an arm, ready to throw, cookie in hand.

"Drop the bag, and no one gets hurt," Katniss said, biting back a giggle.

Finnick, Annie, and Johanna looked at them as if they were crazy, but Quinn and Jeffery looked scared.

They knew what those cookies were. Katniss had thrown some at them that first day in the bakery when they had come just before closing time. Peeta had introduced Gale and Katniss to his brothers, and when their backs were turned, she nudged Peeta and Gale, and whispered, "Watch this." And with that, she threw one at the back of each of the older boy's heads. "Ow!" they yelled, turning to find the three new friends rolling on the floor with laughter, and their father trying very hard not to chuckle.

"You wouldn't dare," Quinn said to Katniss, bringing her back from the memory.

"Oh wouldn't I? And you know I have perfect aim."

Quinn and Jeffery looked at each other, and took off running, dropping the bag before they got too far.

Katniss, Peeta, and Gale all looked at each other, shrugged, and threw the cookies anyway. Peeta's fell just a little short, but Katniss and Gale each pegged a brother, high fiving as they heard them yelp.

Turning back toward the bag of cheese buns, and the retreating forms of Peeta's brothers, Katniss saw Finnick holding the bag of cheese buns, two in his hand, one with a bite missing, and a deer in the headlights look on his face when she made eye contact.

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After taking everyone to the tree house, and making a plan to meet up there again when Katniss got more info, they all headed out back to the meadow at sunset.

She had made them all cross their heart not to come to the tree house without her permission.

As they all got to the meadow, Katniss saw her father sitting at the picnic table, a smile on his face clearly visible even in the dusk.

"Hey, kiddos! I hope you guys had fun today!"

They all smiled and nodded, saying that they played in the woods, not mentioning the tree house, or their secret meeting.

As everyone dispersed down the street towards their own homes after goodbyes, Katniss sat down beside her father. Stars now starting to pop out, they both got on top of the table, and laid side by side, looking up.

"So, did you have a good day today?" her father asked her.

Smiling she said, "Yep! I had a really good day. What about you?"

Now he smiled and said, "Can't complain!"

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, just staring up at the stars. Eventually he was pointing out different constellations to her, and telling her how to guide herself based on the stars.

"I showed Peeta the adventure book today," she said, somewhat abruptly after they had stopped talking about a constellation.

Her father turned his head to look at her. "And?"

She continued to stare straight up at the stars. "He loved it. We even added a page together while we were there."

Her father smiled.

"He took it with him. He said he wants to show his dad the pictures he took."

"Well, that was nice of him," her father said, nodding in approval, and looking back up at the stars.

After several minutes he turned back to look at Katniss, and saw the stars reflecting in her eyes, but even more glistening as her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

"Bullseye, honey, what's wrong?" He knit his eyebrows together in concern.

"I just…." She took a quivering breath, "I know I'm growing up."

Her father was silent.

"In the book you said you would always be here for me to come home to, and tell you all about my adventures."

He stayed silent.

"What do I do if something happens? Who will I tell?"

"Oh, Katniss," her father sighed, wrapping his arms around her as she crawled over and laid her head on his chest, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. He felt her tears finally fall as they soaked his shirt, and a few trickled down the side of his neck. "You were always so much more mature than your age. So much wiser."

He just held her as she cried, gently rocking from side to side, until she finally calmed down, the only evidence a few sniffles and tear tracks on her cheeks that shined in the moonlight.

She went back to lying beside him, and they both looked straight up again.

"You know what you are going to do?" he asked his daughter.

He felt her shake her head beside him.

"You are going to look up to the stars. If anything happens, I will be up there, watching over you, and smiling every time you kill the dragon or save the world."

She chuckled, sadly, and heavy from crying. "Okay," she whispered.

Suddenly a star shot across the sky, and both of them gasped and pointed, turned their head toward each other, and asked in unison, "Did you see that?!"

They both laughed.

"Hurry, make a wish!" her father said excitedly.

He looked over at her, and smiled at the sight of her scrunching her eyes closed, scrunching her nose, and scowling her brow, all with a smile on her face.

"What did you wish for?" he asked when she opened her eyes.

Looking at him with a big grin on her face, she said, "You know I can't tell you, or it won't come true."

"Fine, fine…"

They sat in silence for a moment before he continued.

"But just so you know, I wished for cupcakes. I love those things."

Katniss gripped her belly she was laughing so hard. She would have to write about this in her book the moment she got it back from Peeta.

Finally calming down, she turned to her father with a smile, seeing a similar smile on his face, and grabbed his hand. "I love you, dad."

He squeezed her hand. "I love you too, Bullseye. I love you, too."

**A/N: Thank you for reading! The next chapter is where it all picks up. If you have any ideas or requests, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters and The Hunger Games universe goes to Suzanne Collins.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

Chapter 7

Peeta was on his way over to Katniss's house the next morning, the Adventure Book in hand, excited to show her what he had added. His father had loved looking back on all the photos he had taken, and they had laughed for hours when he had gotten home that night, reminiscing.

When her house was within view, his pace quickened and his grin grew. Knocking on the door, he heard footsteps, then a small voice he recognized as Prim's, "Who is it?"

A mischievous grin on his face, he cleared his throat and said in his best sinister voice, "Your worst nightmare."

He heard Prim shriek and her footsteps retreated quickly. She must have run to get Katniss, because when he heard footsteps again, he could hear her voice growing louder as she got closer, "Prim, you are crazy. I am sure _your worst nightmare _is not at the door. Your worst nightmare was Buttercup getting a thorn in his paw, and, as you can see, unfortunately, that has not happened." A moment of silence. "What? Don't look at me like that. You know I don't like that cat."

Then the door swung open, and the sight made Peeta laugh. Katniss stood before him, her hand on her hip, and prim hiding behind her, her face peeking through the gap of Katniss's elbow and torso.

With the same sinister voice, he said, "May I come in?"

"No." And with that Katniss slammed the door in his face.

Peeta was not quite sure what to do. He stood there dumbfounded until he heard giggling through the door, and it opened again to Katniss laughing and waving him in. "Yes. You may come in, _Boogieman_."

Walking into the living room, he sat down on a couch, and Katniss joined him shortly after giving Prim some crayons and a coloring book on the kitchen table.

"So, you're babysitting?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Mom got an urgent call from the hospital this morning, and rushed out of here, just telling me to stay handy. I guess they didn't have enough nurses on the early rotation. She was very frantic."

"Well, I'll just keep you company until she comes back. How's that?"

"I don't know. Prim, can Boogieman stay?"

Grinning wildly, Prim nodded her approval.

Turning back to Peeta, Katniss grinned and said, "The jury has said yes. You may stay."

"Thank you, kind lady," Peeta said to Prim playfully, making her giggle, and duck her head back toward her drawing, trying to hide her rosy cheeks.

"How did your dad like the book?" Katniss asked, pointing to the book in his lap.

"Oh! He loved it. We were up for hours laughing and remembering."

"Good, I'm glad!" Katniss said, a smile on her face.

"He especially loved the last page."

"What?! You showed him the kis- I mean the tree house photos?"

"No!" Peeta said, blushing, but grinning madly. "I showed him this," and he opened to the back of the page they had taped the photos to the day before.

Katniss's breath caught in her throat. She forgot how to breathe, and just stared at the page, mouth agape. Finally taking a short, shaky breath, she slowly reached over and gently took the book from Peeta, setting it in her own lap, running her fingers over the page in reverence.

It was a sketch. She knew Peeta sketched, and had seen a few of them, and he was very good. But this…. This one brought tears to her eyes, butterflies to her stomach, and her heart lodged in her throat. She didn't know if she was happy, or sad, or…. She had no idea.

In the sketch, her father was spinning her under the tree in the meadow the day of the bonfire. The smile on his face was exactly the same as in the photo of him holding her in the hospital, and Katniss was smiling, limbs flailing in the air. She could almost hear herself laugh when she saw the smile it was so lifelike. Behind them, her mother stood, her arms crossed over her chest in disapproval, but a grin giving her away. Her eyes even seemed to twinkle.

She turned her head slowly to look at Peeta, the tips of his ears red, and a sincere, heart melting smile on his face. She knew he didn't like to share his sketches, but he knew she loved them, so for him to put this in _the book_ was a very big deal for him, she knew. And for her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, but you missed something," and he pointed below the sketch to words written in light orange pencil. Katniss turned back to it, and focused on the words. It read, "Katniss, thank you for being my friend. I told you I wanted to freeze that moment in the tree house, and then I realized I also wanted to freeze this one, it was so perfect. I hope you like it. I know it isn't killing a dragon, or traveling through time and space, but it is every bit as amazing. Always, Peeta". Beside his name was small heart like she had drawn in doodles on her homework so many times, and an 'x' over it. He had also written the date of when the scene took place and the date of his sketch in the top corner.

Looking back up to Peeta, her jaw still agape, he crossed his fingers over his heart, and smiled a tight, slightly sad, but genuine smile, and whispered, "Always. Remember?"

"Always," she whispered back, still in shock, and her mouth going slack again.

Peeta laughed and reached his finger under her jaw and closed it, saying, "You are going to catch flies."

She couldn't smile. She couldn't do anything. She just looked back to the sketch, and running her fingers over it again, she said, "Peeta, thank you. I…. It's just…. So…. Beautiful."

Peeta smiled at her as she looked into his eyes. She didn't need to say anything. He could read the gratitude in her eyes.

"Prim," Katniss said, "Is my green pen on the table?"

"No," her sister replied.

"Then can I borrow a green crayon?"

"Sure! Do you want…." She stared intently at the name of the color on the crayon, sounding them out, "'Honeydew green', 'Limeade green', or 'Forest green'?"

"'Forest green'," Katniss smiled.

After Prim ran the crayon over to her, Katniss took the book, and on the page opposite the sketch she wrote 'Always' and dated it up in the corner.

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After several hours of watching TV, eating macaroni and cheese, and a popcorn war over the commercial breaks, the phone rang.

"That must be my mom," Katniss said, walking over to it.

Picking it up she said, "Hello? Hi, mom! I was starting to get worried when are you-"

She was silent as she listened to her mother. Peeta couldn't tell what was being said, but her tone sounded tired and anxious.

"Um, okay. We'll be here. Ten minutes? Okay. Mom, Peeta is here, can he come too? Okay. See you soon. Bye."

As she hung up the phone, a scowl on her face, she looked to Peeta and said, "We have to go to the hospital. She said to have a bag with a few things packed for me, her and Prim. She also said you can come if your dad says it's okay. He's coming to pick us up in ten minutes."

"What's wrong? Why do you have to go?"

"She wouldn't tell me," her brows were knit in confusion. "Can you watch Prim while I go and pack a few things?"

"Sure."

She was just walking back down the stairs with the bags a few minutes later when there was a knock at the door. Peeta looked through the peephole and opened the door when he saw it was his father and Gale.

"Gale?" Katniss asked as she saw them from the bottom step.

Gale looked at Katniss very sadly then stared at the ground.

Mr. Mellark wore a somber expression and stood motionless, staring at Peeta.

"Gale?" she asked again. "Mr. Mellark? Why do we have to go to the hospital?"

"Katniss…." Mr. Mellark trailed off, then made eye contact with her. "It's your father."

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Katniss shook the whole way to the hospital. Mr. Mellark and Gale kept looking at her through the rearview mirror, and looked away quickly when she made eye contact.

She sat between Peeta and Prim in the back seat, Peeta holding her hand, which despite her shaking, she held with a vice like grip.

When Prim asked what was wrong with their father, Mr. Mellark swallowed and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Gale saw this, and turned around where he sat in the front passenger seat, and faced Prim, a tight smile on his face, but reassuring nonetheless. "He is fine, Prim."

"So, daddy is going to be okay?"

Gale glanced at Katniss, and his look told her all she needed to know. He was not fine.

Looking back to Prim, "Yes, Sweetie. He is going to be fine."

Prim nodded in satisfaction and stared out the window to her left.

Gale looked back to Katniss, his smile fading and his brows knitting together. Finally his gaze fell, and he turned back around.

Katniss looked at Peeta, her eyes wide with fear, her mouth a tight, thin line. She looked him in the eyes and stared. They both remained unblinking. Those eyes that always made her comfortable, made her not so afraid, eased her worries. Today they helped, but also mirrored her own fear.

"What's going to happen?" she whispered to him.

"I don't know. But remember, we protect each other."

"It's what we do." She smiled sadly and leaned her head onto his shoulder, shutting her eyes tightly closed to keep the threat of tears at bay. She had to be strong for Prim. Swallowing down her fear, and willing the tears not to fall, she sat back up and started to rub Prim's back.

Her sister looked over at her and that was all it took. One tear fell down Katniss's cheek.

Prim's small smile faded and she asked, "What's wrong, Katniss?"

Forcing herself to smile, Katniss replied, "Nothing, Little Duck. I was just picturing that thorn in Buttercup's paw."

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When they got to the hospital, Mr. Mellark dropped them all off at the emergency room entrance, telling them to wait for him to come back from praking before going in.

Katniss was staring at the ground and looked up to find Gale staring at her. She walked the few steps over to him and walked into his already open arms.

"Oh, Catnip," he sighed shakily.

Peeta went over to entertain Prim, and let them have their moment. Katniss could hear him telling her jokes softly, and her softly giggling in return.

"Gale. What am I going to do?"

"I don't know, Katniss. I don't know. But I do know you are strong. Whatever it is, you can do it. It may be hard, but you know the whole gang has your back, including me, and you always have my shoulder to cry on."

He felt his shirt start to dampen with her tears.

"Hey," he said soothingly, rubbing the back of her head, pulling her closer and cradling her into him. "Hey… Catnip, it'll be okay. We'll figure it out." He pushed her away slightly, looking her in the eyes. Using his thumbs to wipe away the remainder of her tears, he smiled reassuringly, and crossed his heart. "I promise."

Katniss smiled tightly, and nodded once. As she pulled away, and rubbed her face with her hands, Mr. Mellark came walking up. Peeta walked back over and grabbed the same hand he had held in the car, squeezing it reassuringly, and Gale wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close on the other side. He went to grab Prim's hand, but Mr. Mellark was already holding it and walking through the doors, so the three of them followed the two, still clutching tightly to each other.

After Mr. Mellark exchanged a few words with the receptionist, he told them to follow him, and led them to an elevator.

They went up to the third floor, and as the door opened, Katniss felt a wave a nausea rush over her. She hated hospitals. The smells, the needles, it was all so sterile. She just hated it. Gale's grip tightened around her waist and Peeta's on her hand, and it was just the push she needed to continue.

They walked to another desk where Mr. Mellark asked for her father. He was in room 319.

They walked to the door, and Mr. Mellark handed Prim's hand to Gale. "You guys stay here for a minute. I am just going to go in and make sure it's okay for you guys to come in." And with that he disappeared into the room.

They stood in silence for what seemed an eternity, but the clock on the wall said it had only been about five minutes. Finally Mr. Mellark opened the door and motioned them in.

Taking a deep breath, Katniss scooped up her sister and walked in, the two boys following closely behind. From the other side of the hospital bed her mother smiled sadly at her, but she couldn't return it. Turning to the bed, she saw her father, hooked up to all kinds of machines, and bruises on his face and arms.

Her heart lodged in her throat and she forgot how to breathe. It was similar to how she had felt when she saw the sketch, but this time she definitely knew it was fear.

She set Prim down, who ran over to their mother. Standing still, staring at her father, Katniss asked, "What happened?"

"A car accident. On his way to work, a drunk driver." Her mother could barely choke out the words.

"Is he going to be okay?"

When there was no answer, she looked over to her mother who sat in silence, a frown turning down her face, bottom lip slightly quivering, and tears racing down her face. Holding her gaze, she gently shook her head, then stared down at the floor.

Katniss looked back to her father, tears now threatening her, and slowly approached the bedside. She reached out for his hand, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, Bullseye." His voice was weak.

"Hey, daddy." So was hers.

"Well, I didn't get those cupcakes I wished for…."

She chuckled through her tears. "I told you if you tell anyone, it won't come true."

He chuckled, but ended up coughing and wincing in pain. "Then it's good that I didn't really wish for that."

She looked at him quizzically, and he smiled that smile, the same one that Peeta had captured in the sketch, though slightly smaller. "I wished that you, your mom, and Prim would have a wonderful life full of love, happiness, and friends. And lots of adventures."

His voice grew weaker as he went on. Katniss squeezed his hand.

Looking toward the three men at the foot of the bed, he said quietly, "Gale?"

"Yes, sir?" he walked up behind Katniss.

"You have always been like a son to me. Thank you. Please always stay with Katniss. Watch over my girls."

Gale grabbed Katniss's shoulder and squeezed as he chocked out, "Yes, sir." Tears started to fall.

"Peeta?"

Peeta was hesitant at first but moved over beside Katniss. "Yes, sir?"

"What is it with all of this 'sir' business? I have to get in the hospital for you boys to start showing manners?" he said teasingly. Then, more seriously, "Peeta, as stubborn as she is, which means it will take her quite a while to admit it, she really likes you."

"Dad!" Katniss said embarrassedly, making him chuckle.

"Katniss, you know it's true. Peeta, she has liked you from the moment she met you, and does not stop talking about you."

"It's true," Gale said, elbowing Katniss in the ribs. "She never stops yammering."

"And," Mr. Everdeen said, a faint glimmer in his eye, "I heard about that kiss the other night."

Katniss and Peeta blushed.

"Take care of her, Peeta. Stay with her."

Peeta grabbed her hand and looked at her. "Yes, sir. Always."

"Carl?" Mr. Everdeen said, finally turning to Peeta's father.

"Yes, sir?"

"Not you, too!"

They both shared a chuckle.

"Yes, Mark?"

"That's better. Take care of my family. Please. And take them to our island someday."

"You got it, Mark," Mr. Mellark said heavily.

Mr. Everdeen turned back to Katniss. "And you. You tell me all about it when you get back."

Katniss nodded through her silent tears.

Turning to his wife and youngest daughter, Mr. Everdeen said, "Joyce? You are the light of my life and you always will be. Stay strong for our girls."

She nodded.

"And Prim? My little Rosebud, I love you so much. You are my little ray of sunshine. Look after your sister, okay? Lord knows she could use some sunshine. Always scowling. Oh! And take care of that cat of yours."

Prim nodded, a mirror of her mother, just in miniature form.

"I love you all, please know that." The room was filled with silent, nodding heads.

"Bullseye, I love you. Stay true to yourself. Fight for what you believe in. You are so strong."

She nodded. It was all anyone in the room could seem to do.

He squeezed her hand and said, "I love you, Katniss."

"I love you too, daddy."

Her father's eyes fluttered shut and he exhaled as the heart rate monitor fell into a flat line and beeped incessantly.

She gave his hand one last squeeze. "I love you, too."

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The funeral was a few days after. Many people showed up, all friends of her father, but Katniss felt alone. Empty. The one person she could always look to, was gone.

Among the people attending was her father's step brother, Haymitch Abernathy and his fiancé Effie Trincket. He had always had a drinking problem. Her father had said it was because of abuse from his father, and that is why his mother had divorced him and married Katniss's grandfather. Considering it was a drunk driver that killed her father, being around him made her uncomfortable, but she had always liked him.

And as for his fiancé, she just made Katniss uncomfortable. She was kind and all, but she wore so much makeup her face was several shades paler than the rest of her skin, and her hair was much too tall and odd colored for Katniss's liking. They lived in a nearby city named Capitol.

Haymitch came up to her and gave her a sad smile, which she returned. Then he gave her a tight hug, and she almost felt like it was her father hugging her, so she squeezed back.

When he pulled away, he got down onto one knee to be face to face with her. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. I miss him, too, but I imagine not as much as you. But I want you to know," and he looked from side to side, leaned in closer to her and whispered, "I am going to cut back on my drinking. I can't just stop, but I am going to try. Step by step. It doesn't feel right drinking something that contributed to what happened to Mark. Do you think you can maybe help me?"

"How?"

"Well, you see, Effie bought me this book of smoothie recipes a while back, some sort of health kick she was on," he rolled her eyes, making her giggle, "and I tried one, but it was disgusting, and she wouldn't leave until I drank the whole thing. I was thinking, maybe once a week I can come over and we can try a new recipe from the book. I'll buy the supplies, and that way, if it is good, I can drink it whenever I want _a drink_, but if it is horrible, we can just dump it down the sink and get ice cream. Just you and me. Maybe even a few of your friends. What do you say?"

She agreed, the smile on her face making it's way to her eyes for the first time in days, and he had one to match.

Patting her shoulders he said, "Good. Then it's a date. See you next week, sweetheart." He winked at her with a grin, and went to his seat.

After everyone was seated, Katniss between Gale and Peeta as usual, Finnick beside Peeta and Annie beside him, and Johanna beside Gale, the funeral started.

The man up front said a few words about her father, and then announced that Katniss was going to sing a song to start everything off.

Walking to the front of the audience, she said, "When my father sang, even the birds stopped to listen. This is a song I learned in school and I remember singing it to him, and seeing him smile." Her gaze fell slightly and a small grin appeared on her face. Snapping back to reality she said, "It's called 'The Valley Song'."

_Down in the valley, the valley so low_

_Hang your head over, hear the wind blow_

_Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow;_

_Hang your head over, hear the wind blow._

_Roses love sunshine, violets love dew,_

_Angels in Heaven know I love you,_

_Know I love you, dear, know I love you,_

_Angels in Heaven know I love you._

_If you don't love me, love whom you please,_

_Throw your arms 'round me, give my heart ease,_

_Give my heart ease, dear, give my heart ease,_

_Throw your arms 'round me, give my heart ease._

_Build me a castle, forty feet high;_

_So I can see her as she rides by,_

_As she rides by, dear, as she rides by,_

_So I can see her as she rides by._

_Write me a letter,'Send it by mail,_

_Send it in care of_ _Birmingham Jail,_

_Birmingham Jail, love, Birmingham Jail,_

_Send it in care of Birmingham Jail_

Everyone applauded, several people were crying, as Katniss returned to her seat and the man once again stood at the front and asked if anyone wanted to say anything about Mr. Everdeen. Haymitch, and several other people she recognized but didn't know their names got up and said a few kind words.

Then the man said, "Mark's daughter, Primrose has asked to sing a song."

Katniss looked to her mother and sister in the row in front of her. Prim who was in her mother's lap looked up to her mother who nodded, and she jumped down and walked up to the front.

"Um, hi, I'm Prim. I uh, I loved my daddy very much," she sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, staring at the floor. "And, um, he used to sing this song to my sister Katniss and I when we were little. It's a lullaby called 'Deep in the Meadow'."

Her sister started singing, voice quivering at first, but strong and sweet by the end.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise._

Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe and here it's warm  
And here the daisies guard you from every harm  
And here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you.

Everyone was silent, absorbing the atmosphere of the room as Prim went back to her seat. Love, sadness, loss….

Everything was coming to a close when Katniss jumped up and said, "Wait!" Everyone turned to look at her. She went up to the front once again, swallowed, and said, "This is the first song my father taught my sister and I. It is a very odd song, and my mother hates it," she paused as people chuckled, "but I feel it would be best to sing the first thing he taught me as we say goodbye. It's called 'The Hanging Tree'."

_Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

_Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree_

_Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree._

_Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.  
Strange things did happen here,  
No stranger would it be,  
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree._

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**A/N: Ahhhhhh! This was so hard to write! So sad! **

**If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!") I also do not own any of the Avengers or Marvel.**

**A/N: This story is going to be in general POV, unless specified. **

**I may have some internalized thoughts, these will be in italics. Also, texts will be in italics. Some sections are more obviously about specific characters and their struggles, but for continuity, it is general POV.**

Chapter 8

It had been three years since that day. Since the day he left, leaving a gaping hole in the family, in her heart, and in the universe, as far as she was concerned. It was out of his control, she knew, but it was hard for her not hold it against him sometimes. He said he would always be there. She could always come home to him, tell him all about her adventures, which as she got older got farther and farther away. Now her days were filled with school, homework, and babysitting Gale's younger siblings on occasion. But still, she wished for a father she could talk about her day to. Explain how Posey Hawthorne could be such a pain sometimes, especially if she and Prim joined forces, and don't even get her started on Rory Hawthorne waging war against the girls and throwing dirty socks into their pillow fort, making them scream.

She needed someone to help her with her homework. Her mother tried her hardest, but since her husband died, she had all but checked out of reality. It was all Katniss could do to wrangle her attention for help with one math problem, and as far as cooking was concerned, that was left to Katniss after the time shortly following her father's death when her mother had let a pot of water boil over, and distantly realizing, went to remove it from the stove, covering her hands in boiling water and severe burns.

Haymitch did what he could, which was mostly helping to pay the bills and buy food and clothes for the girls, since her mother had been fired from the hospital. He and Effie were now married, and had moved into their neighborhood, Effie not too thrilled at first to be in District 12's suburb Victor's Village, but she told Katniss shortly after moving, "Once you get used to the smell, it's not so bad!"

Katniss could not help rolling her eyes at that.

Her friends had been a huge help, that's for sure.

Johanna had softened and turned into a sort of motherly figure for her and Prim, being a voice a reason. A mostly loud and foul mouthed voice, but reason, nonetheless.

Finnick and Annie had started dating within the last year, and were great company, always making Katniss laugh and roll her eyes at their mock over the top lovey dovey talk.

Gale had become extremely protective of her, her mother, and Prim. Not fatherly, more of a watchdog. Katniss especially appreciated this when his little brother Rory would flirt with Prim, and Gale would bark at him to knock it off until he knew what he was talking about.

And Peeta. Oh, Peeta. He would come over and help her cook every night he could, bringing a warm loaf of bread most times, sometimes it was cold, and on those nights she noticed swelling on a cheek, or the bruise in the shape of a hand around his arm as he pushed his sleeves up to wash his hands before cooking. When she had tried to ask him about it, he just got flustered, pulled his sleeves down quickly and said some nonsense excuse. On the days he didn't come to help at all, she noticed the next day at school he would either call in sick, or have a bruise on his torso that showed when his shirt rode up in gym.

His brothers were acting somewhat like Gale, but were more like the court jesters of the group. They made it their job to help everyone through the rough patches along the way.

And as for Mr. Mellark, he had stayed true to his word, and looked over them, providing them with leftovers from the bakery every few days, doing odd repairs here and there, and trying to help bring her mother back, all of which Mrs. Mellark did not seem to care for.

All of her friends were coming over for dinner this evening, and Peeta was helping her prep. She was setting the table, a plate at every space, and she couldn't help looking at the head of the table, feeling sad that someone else now sat in that, her father's place, and there were only twelve places instead of thirteen.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Peeta said, causing her to look up to him over the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room. "You can take one of those places off."

"Why?"

He looked back down to the pan of pasta sauce in front of him on the stove, stirring absentmindedly. "My mom isn't coming."

"Oh," was all Katniss could say. They had been friends for almost seven years now, she wanted to know. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn't your mom ever come around?"

He continued to stir the sauce and shrugged.

"Why when you bring cold loaves of bread do you have bruises?"

He shrugged again, but his shoulders slumped a little further forward.

"Why on the nights you can't come over do you call in sick to school the next day, or have large bruises?"

Peeta dropped the spoon, turned and leaned against the oven crossing his arms, and looked at her, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Peeta, I didn't mean to-"

"My mother is a jerk, okay?"

Katniss looked at him in shock. He never talked badly of anyone.

"Well, at least that's what my brother's say, but I have to agree with them. She is the reason I have bruises. Call in sick. Don't come by. Why the bread is cold."

He couldn't look her in the eyes, so he stared at the floor by her feet.

"She says that 'the little piece of Seam trash doesn't deserve our bread'."

_Seam_. A reference to her part of town she had not heard in a long time. It used to admittedly not be the best neighborhood, but things had changed, and it was now a budding part of town.

"I'm sorry," he said, bringing her back from her thoughts. He was still staring at her feet, so she walked over to him, hooked her index finger under his chin, and lifted his gaze to meet hers. The tear tracks down his cheeks making her stomach twist.

"Peeta. I don't care what that woman has to say. Don't believe her. At least you _have_ a mother."

His eyes turned from sorrow to anger in mere seconds.

"Don't you dare say that! You still have a mother, absent as she may be. 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' they say, but I wouldn't know because mine is always there."

"Absence does _not _make the heart grow fonder. I should know."

He snapped his jaw shut, setting it in a stubborn way, his eyes still furious but starting to fade.

"Absence only tears you apart more each day," she continued, steeling herself against sadness, against tears, demanding her voice to stay steady. "Maybe if you can see that person again it can make you fonder, but knowing that that absence is bigger than you, bigger than anything you could ever do, it tears at your heart. It eats at you, consuming your soul until you are nothing but a shell. A shell full of grief, pain, suffering, bitterness."

"_Oh, Katniss," _she heard her father's voice from the night before the accident._ "You were always so much more mature than your age. So much wiser."_

The memory caused a lump to form in her throat, her resolve starting to falter.

Peeta's jaw was still set, but his eyes now showed compassion more than fury.

Her voice now had a slight crack, "And I fight everyday to not become a shell. I refuse. I try to enjoy everyone around me, take everything in, and be there for everyone. I will not become a shell. I am a survivor, I am a protector, yes, maybe I was forced into this, and yes, maybe I was too young, but it's where I am now, and I can only take it a day at a time."

Peeta merely nodded slowly, and went back to staring at her feet. He let out a soft gasp of surprise when she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed back, hoping he could send her courage through a hug. Feeling his shoulder dampen with tears, he squeezed even tighter and put a hand on the back of her head, stroking her hair in what he thought, no hoped, was a comforting way.

"Shhhh…." He said to her softly and turned to whisper in her ear, "It's okay to cry. They carry out all the sadness. They are like little bumper cars made out of water."

He felt her suck in a breath and pull away from him slightly, her puffy, red eyes meeting his, and her arms still around his neck. "…._Water bumper cars?_"

Smiling sweetly he said, "Yeah! I mean, here let me explain." He let go of her with one arm, holding her tighter with the other one to make up for it, and put his index finger at her eye. "You see, they start here, and _race_ down your face until they run into the crevice of your nose, or your lips, and _bump_!" he had traced the 'bumper tears' tracks down her face as he spoke, tapping the end of her nose with his last word.

She giggled and shook her head, then tucked it back into his chest and he returned his arm around her.

Placing his chin on the top of her head, he said, "And those little water drops are full of all your problems. Sometimes it helps to cry. Empty the gas tank for all your problems."

"Who told you all of this?" she asked, muffled into his chest.

Smiling a sad smile, he said, "My dad."

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Everyone was there, enjoying the dinner, chatting happily amongst themselves.

Gale and Johanna were arguing over who would win, Batman or Superman, and Finnick interjected that the argument was dumb, and if they threw The Joker in, he would obviously win, to which Annie disagreed, and stated that Loki should be thrown in, and he "would totally win because he can do that cool thing and multiply himself."

Peeta just laughed and told them all what a dumb conversation that was because obviously Spider Man would beat them all.

"Oh yeah?" Gale raised his eyebrows at Peeta from across the table, that 'I'm gonna prove I'm right' glint in his eye. "And what makes you think that, Bread Boy?"

"Yeah, I'm with Gale on this one, Short Stack," Johanna chimed in, coining her new nickname for Peeta. _"'Short' because he is the youngest, and 'Stack' because it is in reference to pancakes, Brainless."_ She had explained to Katniss. "What makes you think Spidey Boy could take on Batman, Superman, The Joker, and Loki?"

With a smile of triumph Peeta said, "Because, he would just wrap them all in a web. Duh."

They all snapped their jaws shut whenever they tried to come up with a rebuttal, and looked off into space, seemingly envisioning the battle.

"Until Thor came and fried it all with a zap of his lightning."

Everyone turned to look at Katniss, and she could see it register in their eyes.

"She's right!" Finnick exclaimed, then followed by a cheesy British accent, "By, Jove, I think she's got it!" He fussed when several people tossed small pieces of their rolls at him accompanied by 'Boo!' or 'Shut up, Finn!'.

"But," Annie questioned in her small voice, "what happens when the web melts and they all get freed?"

Everyone turned to look at Katniss.

"The lightning would fry them, too. Duh."

Growls and 'aw, man!' went around the table at the realization of their defeat, but Peeta turned to Katniss beside him, a proud smile on his face, and grabbed her hand under the table, giving it a little squeeze.

She raised her eyebrows in question, and he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Something about the way you talk about super heroes is kinda…. Cute."

"Peeta!" Katniss shouted in surprise, her cheeks blushing a fierce red, and Peeta's a close match.

Everyone turned to them, all conversations halting immediately.

"What?" Johanna asked with a smirk.

"I, uh, just…. Um…." Katniss could have kicked herself. Of all the times to be at a loss for words…. "Peeta just said that The Hulk could come and smash Thor out of the way, but I think that is just ridic-"

"Dude!" Finnick yelled, cutting her off. "You totally stole that from the Avengers."

"That was an awesome movie," Gale said, looking off into space again, obviously reliving scenes from the movie. Everyone agreed with him, and they started chatting about the movie.

Katniss turned to Peeta, the deepest scowl she could muster on her face, when she realized they were still holding hands. Her face started to melt into surprise, then he wove his fingers through hers, and she smiled.

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That night after everyone had left, Katniss was loading the dishwasher when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw a text from Peeta.

_Hey. I need to talk to someone. You got a sec?_

She quickly replied, _Yeah, sure. Just loading the dishwasher. Want me to call when I'm done?_

_No. Just meet me in the meadow at the picnic table._

Katniss glanced at the time. It was going on eleven. _Okay. Sure. Be there in about ten minutes._

_See you then._

Putting her phone back in her pocket, she quickly finished loading the dishes, grabbed her coat, and headed for the meadow.

Peeta was already at the table when she got there, his forearms resting on the table, and his head thrown back, staring at the stars.

"Hey, stranger. Long time, no see," she joked.

Peeta jumped, and looked at her with a smile. "You startled me. Yeah. Long time. A whole two hours!"

"Gasp!"

They both shared a chuckle as she scooted into the seat next to him.

"So," she said after a few silent minutes of star gazing, "What did you need to talk about?"

Peeta lowered his head so he was staring straight forward, off into the woods.

"Um, well, I got home and my mom wasn't there, so I asked my dad where she was and he just broke down crying."

"Wait, she wasn't home?"

"Well, you know she goes to visit her sister for a week every month or so. She was supposed to get back tonight, but she wasn't there. When I finally got my dad to calm down, he told me she had left."

"Uh, yeah, duh. She would have to leave to go somewhere," Katniss chuckled, elbowing Peeta, but he didn't smile.

"No, Katniss." He turned to look at her, the look in his eyes making her mouth go dry. "She _left_. Our family. She's not coming back."

After a few seconds, Katniss turned her head to stare into the woods like Peeta had.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm not."

Katniss turned her head back to him, finding him staring into the woods.

"I mean, I am," he continued, "but I'm not. I mean…" He turned to face her. "I was never good enough for her. Ever. I was the youngest, I was unwanted, and I was not a girl."

Katniss hugged him. She squeezed and refused to let go until he relented, and returned the hug. She felt tears on her shoulder where he was resting his chin.

"Kat, what am I going to do? I know it wasn't the best, but I've never not had a mom."

"You don't do anything. There is nothing to do."

He pulled back and looked at her with a scowl. "Gee, thanks for the pep talk, coach."

She smiled a small smile and pretended to slug him in the shoulder.

"I mean, you just continue on. If you try to _do_ anything, it will just hurt, because it won't work. Just move forward. This is your life now. Embrace it. Run with it. See where it takes you."

After a moment of silence, Peeta sniffed and said, "Will you run with me?"

Katniss smiled and crossed her heart. "Always."

Peeta smiled, crossed his heart and mouthed, "Always."

"Come on!" Katniss said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up on top of the table. "Lay down. It's easier to watch the stars this way. You won't get a crick in your neck."

They lay down on top of the table, side by side, looking at the stars. Peeta grabbed her hand like he had at dinner, and she laced her fingers in his. He turned to look at her, and even though she was looking at the stars, he saw the smile on her face.

"You know," Katniss said, "This is what my dad and I did the night before he died."

The stars reflecting in her eyes twinkled even more as they reflected in the tears pooling in her eyes. Peeta squeezed her hand.

"He told me, that if he ever left me, that he would be up in the stars, looking down on me, watching all my adventures."

She smiled a sad smile.

"Then a shooting star came, and we both made a wish."

"I was wondering why he talked about cupcakes…" Peeta said, and Katniss chuckled.

"Yeah, he told me that was what he had wished for."

"And what did you wish for?"

She turned her head to face him.

"For a happy family. For years of happy memories."

"Why did you wish for that? You already had that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

They both turned back to the sky, and a star shot across the others.

Turning quickly back to one another, they shouted, "Did you see that?!" in unison.

Laughing, they both shut their eyes and made a wish.

Peeta asked playfully, "What did you wish for?"

Katniss nudged his shoulder with hers, and said, "You know I can't tell you."

Another star shot across the sky.

"I love you, too, dad."

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**A/N: Ta-da! If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!") I also do not own any of the Avengers or Marvel.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Disney/Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**

**A/N: The song in this chapter is Burn by Ellie Goulding, and I do not own it. Or Monster's Inc. That is once again Disney/Pixar. And there are some direct quotes from THG series in this chapter, property of Suzanne Collins.**

Chapter 9

Seven years had passed since that night in the meadow where Peeta had told her about his mother.

Ten years since her father's death.

Thirteen since the day she had first met Peeta.

She had been flipping through the Adventure Book that now had a permanent home on the coffee table due to the amount she was adding photos to it. She flipped to one of the most recent memories, and smiled. The whole gang in front of the house Haymitch had bought close to the local community college for all of them to stay in while they were in college. He had told her, "You all need to save your money for important stuff. Like food. If you're not paying rent, you can eat real food instead of that Ramen crap." She had rolled her eyes, but smiled and hugged him anyway.

She had shown the book to everyone after that, telling them to let her know if something needed to be added, and after that the book was quickly filling up.

Photos of the boys vs. girls paintball match back home in the meadow, Gale and Johanna looking adoringly at each other, a rare sight and one they had promptly threatened to torture Katniss until she gave it up, or kick a puppy or something until she had taped it to the book and they glared at her. Once something was in the book, it stayed, no matter how embarrassing or blackmail worthy. So Katniss quickly snapped a photo of the two of them side by side, arms crossed, glaring at her, and taped it into the book, writing underneath it in her green pen, "There. That's more like it."

And the most recent, the three boys in their PJs at the island in the kitchen, all eating out of their own ice cream containers. The next photo was snapped after the first's flash, and they all looked like deer in the headlights. She had captioned it, "PMS. Men get it, too." Under that, there was a photo of the three girls reaching into the freezer, which was on the bottom of their freezer/fridge, the light from the freezer the only light, and all you could see of the girls were their PJ clad bottoms in the air as they dug through the freezer. The last photo was after the flash once again, but this time it was the girls looking like deer in the headlights, but angry deer, and they had either ice cream or cookie dough in their hands, in their mouth, or spread on their face. She had captioned it, per the boy's requests, "PMS. Women are insane."

All those years, and she still couldn't believe why she had let Peeta and Finnick talk her into this. Closing the book and setting it on the coffee table, she looked up into the kitchen where Peeta was working on some cheese buns, and Finnick 'helped' – meaning he just watched and drooled a little closer than everyone else.

"Why did I let you talk me into this, again?" she asked them.

Peeta, still working the dough as he spoke, looked up with a smile and said, "Because you love me, of course."

"You're lucky you're my boyfriend otherwise I would scowl at you."

"One of the position's many perks," he added with a smirk.

"And you let me talk you into it because you love me, too, chica!" Finnick said, a sickly sweet grin on his face.

Katniss scowled at him.

"No! Not the scowl! It's my one weakness! Ahhhhhh!" Finnick ran from the kitchen flailing his arms and screaming.

Gale and Johanna walked in from the media room where they had been "watching a movie", but since they started dating, everyone avoided the room when they said that, just in case.

"What is wrong with Poseidon?" Gale asked, grabbing a pinch of cheese Peeta had measured out in a bowl, earning him a glare from Peeta, to which he just raised his eyebrows and glared back. "Good cheese, by the way. Is that provolone?" He and Peeta shared a chuckle, Peeta shaking his head and looking back to his dough, and Gale lightly punching his arm.

"Judging by the scowl Brainless is wearing, I would say she just killed him," Johanna said with a smirk.

Katniss turned her scowl on Johanna.

Throwing her arms up in surrender, Johanna said, "Hey, don't kill me! I didn't do anything! It was all Fish Boy!"

"See? It hurts, Katniss," Finnick said, poking his head around the corner of the door he had just run through. Walking back into the kitchen, his hand over his heart and a pout on his face, he walked toward her, finally placing his free hand on her shoulder. Reaching into his pocket, he flipped his hand with a flourish and held it out flat in front of her face, a sugar cube sitting on his palm. "Sugar cube, Sour Puss?"

"You seriously carry those in your pocket?" she asked him, then bent her head down and pulled the sugar cube into her mouth.

Finnick smiled and said, "Always have. You'll thank me one day. And it is in trade for your silence and secrecy."

"I know, I know, we are going to do a flash mob. It was all Annie's idea, but we are going to fix the ending and you are going to propose, blah, blah, blah. Gimmie another cube."

Finnick grinned and pulled out another cube, and Katniss grabbed it with her front teeth as Finnick pet her hair and said, "There you go, girl. Good puppy. Who's a good girl?!"

Katniss slowly raised her head to make eye contact with Finnick, but he ran from the room screaming before she could.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Gale asked her.

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Katniss had been an undeclared major for her first semester when she saw a flier for an internship at a fashion firm over in Capitol. It counted towards three credits, so she thought why not.

She had gone into the office the next day to apply, and as she was leaving after handing in the application to the secretary, a man approached her. He was well dressed just like everyone else in the office, but much more understated and tasteful in her opinion. The only real clue that he was in the fashion world was the hint of gold eyeliner he wore.

"Hi, my name is Cinna," he said, shaking her hand. "I've been watching you from my office and I just want to tell you, you have the internship."

"Um, th-thank you" Katniss stammered. She _had_ worn heels today. Maybe that was why?

"I have watched dozens of girls come in here applying, and none of them deserved it. Sure, they may know what they are talking about, but none of them even said thank you to my secretary. You even said please first."

His smile was infectious. Turning to his secretary, Cinna said, "Octavia, please hold all my calls for the next hour. I will be going over paperwork and such with Miss…."

"Everdeen," Katniss finished for him. "Katniss Everdeen."

"Katniss? What a unique name."

"Not unlike your own," Katniss smiled.

Laughing, Cinna turned around to walk back to his office. "Touché. You've got fire, Katniss. I think we are going to get along swimmingly."

"'Swimmingly'? That doesn't seem like a place for a girl on fire."

Cinna stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her, a giant grin on his face. "'Girl on fire'? 'Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire'. You are going to be a game changer, I can tell."

Katniss scoffed. "Care to bet on that?"

"Office rules say no betting, but if I could…. Girl on fire, I'm betting on you."

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The internship had morphed into more of a partnership.

Cinna had claimed Katniss as his muse, helped her use parts of her job for credits, and convinced her to become a fashion/design major. _"You have an eye for color and you are sensible,"_ he had reasoned to her, helping make her final decision to declare the major.

His most recent invention was a type of material that, when activated by a button, emitted a flame. Katniss was scared at first, fearing that Cinna had gone over the edge of insanity, but he just laughed and held his hand in the flame to prove to her it was safe.

"How do you do that?" she had asked him.

"Shhhhh…." He had said, holding his finger to his lips. "It doesn't matter."

Annie had come to pick her up that day, and had walked in when Cinna's hand was in the flame. Of course, per company rules, she would have had to sign a ton of non-discloser agreements, but Cinna waved it off, making her promise not to tell anyone.

"I'm a great judge of character," he said.

"I have a brilliant idea!" Annie exclaimed, making both Cinna and Katniss jump.

"You want people to see these soon, right?" she asked Cinna, to which he nodded. "Well, if you can make five more outfits, two girls and three boys, then me and my friends will do a flash mob to Ellie Goulding's 'Burn', and set them on fire near the end, startling people."

Behind Annie, Katniss was shaking her head and mouthing 'No' to Cinna, but he just stroked his beard thoughtfully and agreed with Annie. "It'll definitely make an impression."

Katniss smacked her forehead with her palm. _This isn't what I signed up for!_

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_So here we are, at the plaza in the middle of the shopping center, clad in all black leather, from our necks to our wrists and ankles, skin tight…. And combat boots. And as if that wouldn't look creepy and out-of-place enough here, we are wearing trench coats over it to hide it. And sunglasses because it is sunny outside. I'm sure we look like some organized group of spies, spread across the food court courtyard, commenting on the cloudless sky, blah blah blah._ _This can only end badly,_ Katniss finished her thoughts with a smirk to herself.

Finnick _casually_ – as casually as a person in black leather, combat boots, a trench coat and Ray Bans can - walked over to her, and looked into the store display she was pretending to be interested in.

"Have a special evening planned?" he asked her.

"What?" Only then did she realize she was looking into a Victoria's Secret display. Her cheeks burning bright red, she glanced over to Peeta who was a few storefronts down on her left and saw him glancing over at her, smirking and blushing as fiercely as her. "Did he send you over here?"

"No," Finnick grinned. "I just love torturing you."

"Be careful. I told Cinna to make one of the men's suits out of real flames."

"And let me guess, it's the one I'm wearing? Ha, ha."

"I'm not sure. I told him to _surprise me_."

Finnick gulped and pulled a sugar cube out of his trench coat pocket. "Sugar cube?" When she declined with a roll of her eyes, he popped it into his mouth and chewed nervously.

Leaning into her _casually, _he said in a low voice, "Is the eagle bald?"

In an annoyed, but still low voice, Katniss asked, "Seriously, Finnick, why are we using code? It is a _proposal_ not a _mission_."

Finnick leaned away, gasping dramatically, leaving his jaw agape. After several seconds he got inches away from her face and said with over enunciation, "_Is the eagle bald?"_

Grinning, proud that she had gotten under his skin, she nodded. "Yes. The 2319 is a go."

"Good."

"Why did you name your proposal after the Monster's Inc. hazmat team's code?"

"Because it is awesome."

"Understood." She nodded.

After several seconds of staring into the display again, they both burst out laughing and Finnick nudged her with his shoulder. "Thank you again, Katniss. I owe you one, Girl On Fire."

"Don't mention it, Poseidon. I'm just glad you guys got back together after that last breakup. I thought for sure that was it."

Finnick smiled a small smile, and looked over his shoulder to Annie who was beside Gale, which made for quite the funny sight – tiny Annie in their getup next to towering Gale who looked every bit the part of a spy.

"Yeah, well, it takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart. Luckily, Annie is the puzzle queen, and I, being _me_, together we figured out a way to piece us back together. There is still some duct tape here and there, but inch by inch, we take it off and add superglue."

"You know, that was oddly poetic," Katniss said.

Finnick turned to her with a toothy grin, "Thanks."

"….In a _Finnick-y_ sotra way."

His grin instantly switched to a skeptical scowl, one eyebrow raised in question.

But Katniss had no time to explain as she heard the PA announcement that there was a special at Walgreens, their cue that Burn was about to come on, and get in position. There was no Walgreens at that shopping center. Once again, she thought with a smile, _Finnick-y._

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Everything was going according to plan.

They had all _casually_ gotten into position, and as the intro started, they shed their trench coats. Annie had come up with the routine, and it was all going well, until Finnick nodded to Katniss which meant "2319 is a go. 2319! We've got a 2319!"

And as the song continued playing, around the second chorus, the music stopped abruptly, and Annie, poor Annie, looked so confused.

Finnick was quickly at her side, hiding the ring box behind his back – where he had hid it in that suit, Katniss didn't know, nor did she want to – and got down on one knee. Annie gasped and covered her mouth, but not before everyone saw her blinding smile. Tears started pooling in her eyes, and Finnick swallowed, but never moved his eyes from hers.

"Annie," he began, his voice cracking, so he cleared his throat and chuckled nervously. "I… I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. You are my sun and moon, my stars and my clouds, you are my whole sky. Er, what I mean, is, you are all I see. No mater where you look, you can see the horizon. You are my horizon.

This all sounded so much better in my head. It was profound and epic and-"

"Tell her what you told me before we stared," Katniss prompted.

Finnick, a look of relief at the prompt nodded once to Katniss, then turned back to Annie.

"She said, 'I'm just glad you guys got back together after that last breakup. I thought for sure that was it.' And I said, 'Yeah, well, it takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart. Luckily, Annie is the puzzle queen, and I, being _me_, together we figured out a way to piece us back together. There is still some duct tape here and there, but inch by inch, we take it off and add superglue.'"

Annie's tears started to spill over. Luckily they were wearing the sunglasses, so you didn't see her makeup smear.

"Then she said, 'You know, that was oddly poetic, in a _Finnick-y_ sotra way.'"

Annie laughed and nodded, looking to Katniss. "I know what you mean."

Once again, Finnick's grin instantly switched to a skeptical scowl, one eyebrow raised in question.

"It's a good thing," Annie reassured him.

Relief melting back into his grin, he said, "So, what I'm getting at, is…. Annie, I love you. And I want to spend my life with you, removing duct tape. Um, I mean I love you and will you marry me?" He held up the ring box, finally opening it for her to see.

"Yes," Annie whispered.

"Cross your heart?"

Nodding as she crossed her heart, she sniffled and said, "You know I do."

The audience that had gathered for the flash mob applauded, and Finnick hugged Annie as they both laughed.

"Now," Finnick said, "I believe we have a wonderful routine to finish. Hit it!"

And with that the song resumed. It was the bridge, which repeated the same thing four times.

_We can light it up up up _

_So they can put it out out out_

Finnick and Annie spun together, Peeta and Katniss, and Gale and Johanna.

Before it switched to the last pre-chorus and the music drops for a second, they all hit the buttons and their outfits went ablaze.

_And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn  
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn  
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn  
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn_

_When the light started out they don't know what they heard  
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world  
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky  
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire  
Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire_

_And we gonna let it burn_

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**A/N: Ta-da! I loved this chapter. Next up – Odesta wedding! If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!") **

**AN: The song in this chapter is John Legend's All of me. I do not own it. (The lyrics are italicized and keep in mind, that just because a whole chorus is between paragraphs or lines in a conversation, it merely means that is the part playing in the background. It adds certain emotional qualities to what is being said.) I am so thankful for the response to this story! Thank you all so much for reading, favoriting, commenting, and following!**

Chapter 10

You couldn't have asked for a better day. The sun was shining, the breeze was cool and gentle, and the temperature was perfect. It was the perfect day for an outdoor wedding.

The ceremony was taking place beside the lake by Katniss' house where they had all palled around growing up. A sign by the entrance to the aisle read, "Today, two families will become one. Please pick a seat, not a side." Beside that was a willow tree with a table set up with Mr. Everdeen's photo and beside it a chalk board that read in Peeta's scrolling font, "Deep in the meadow, under the willow…. This is the place where I love you." Katniss had teared up when she saw it, and hugged Annie and Finnick.

"Don't mention it," Finnck had said with a small smile.

"He was…. Is every bit a part of our family as our actual family members," Annie wiped away Katniss' tears and smiled, tears pooling in her own eyes. "And since it is day time, it's hard for the stars to see, so we made it a little easier for him."

It was finally time for the wedding, and Finnick turned to Peeta, bouncing on his toes, his face wearing a grin that couldn't get any bigger. "I'm getting married today!" He was wrong. It got bigger.

Smiling back, Peeta put a hand on his friend's shoulder to keep him planted on the ground instead of bouncing. "I know! And as your best man, I command you to calm down! You've made it this far, don't scare her now!"

"Ouch. This is marriage. This is the rest of my life. A fight to the death - literally. You try to beat each other so you don't have to be apart."

Peeta patted Finnick's shoulder.

"Too Finnick-y?"

Peeta grinned and nodded, then removed his hand, and chuckled as he looked over to the cabin Mr. Everdeen had built by the lake and saw Katniss lounging on a chaise patio chair in her bridesmaid dress, obviously over all of the pampering, plucking, and whatever else girls did.

A grin coming close to matching Finnick's on his face, as he looked at her, her hair blowing in the wind and that scowl on her face, he said, "I know what you mean Terrifying doesn't even begin to cover it."

Looking back at Finnick, they both burst out laughing.

Reaching into the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket, Finnick pulled out a few sugar cubes. Trying to keep them hidden so as no one else would see, he leaned into Peeta and whispered, "You wanna sugar cube?"

Peeta looked at him in humorous disbelief. "Are you serious? Finnick, it looks like you are trying to slip me drugs," he chuckled.

Haymitch walked up behind Finnick, reached over his shoulder, grabbed a sugar cube, startling Finnick in the process, and said, "Ooo! Sugar cubes! Don't mind if I do!"

He popped it into his mouth as he walked between the two boys, then turned around to look at them.

Peeta was snickering while Finnick was glaring.

"What?" Haymitch asked. "I am presiding over your marriage, so I get a damn sugar cube if I want, Merman." Finnick kept glaring. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice, Odair. It's not becoming."

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Peeta was the best man, and Katniss, the maid of honor, so they walked down the aisle together first.

On their way down to the alter, Katniss mumbled, "I don't want people looking at me."

Peeta chuckled slightly and said, "You have no idea the effect you can have."

Katniss lightly scoffed. "Pah-lease."

Right before they parted to stand on their respective sides, Peeta said softly, "By the way, you look beautiful today. Then again, you always do."

The blush on her face was thank you enough as they parted to each side.

Next was Gale and Johanna.

"I hate dresses," she mumbled under her breath.

Gale chuckled, "But they don't hate you."

She leaned into him slightly, causing him to trip to the side a little ways. He just smiled bigger.

"What I mean, is," she continued, "they have all the wrong drafts in all the wrong places."

As if on cue, a gust of wind came and made her dress fly up slightly.

"I hate nature," she mumbled as they parted.

The rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their way down the aisle, and it was now time for the bride.

As Annie stood at the end of the aisle, the sun behind her, Finnick couldn't help but think it made her look like an angel coming toward him. He blinked a few times to make sure this was real, then shielded his face from the sun to see more than just a glowing silhouette approach him.

He held his breath. He forgot how to breathe. He forgot how to think. All he knew was walking towards him, and it was beautiful.

As she finally got to him, Finnick smiled and it never left his face for the rest of the evening.

Finally getting to the vows, Annie went first and said something utterly beautiful, but to be honest, he didn't hear one thing she said. He was lost in her eyes, deafened by her lips, and dumbfounded by her touch on his hands, which she held.

Haymitch was snapping in front of his face and saying, "Odair. It's your turn." The guests chuckled, and Finnick blushed realizing he'd been caught. Taking a deep breath and looking into those eyes, trying not to get lost, he said his vows.

"My love, you have my heart. And when I die, my last thought will be of your lips. I know you've heard that all before, but it is still true.

Katniss asked me once if I had loved you right away. And I said, 'No, she crept up on me.' And you continue to everyday.

I know we are both broken, and it takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart. But with you by my side, the time flies by.

May you never steal, lie, or cheat, but if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows, and if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life, and if you must cheat, then please cheat death because I couldn't live a day without you."

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The reception happened just feet away from where the ceremony had taken place.

It was time for Peeta to make a toast. Tapping his glass and cleaning his throat, he waited for all eyes to come to him.

"Hi. As you know I am the best man. And I don't just mean here at the wedding." Several people chuckled, he thought he even heard Katniss hiding a snort. "Nah, I'm just kidding. "

Gale shouted, "No you're not!" Causing laughter to ripple through the crowd.

"You're right," Peeta admitted, causing the laughter to increase. "And I must say, it is nice to actually eat the food I cook, instead of just catering and watching everybody else pig out. Now I know why they come back for fourths." Everyone was laughing now.

"But we are here today to celebrate two people, my best friends ever since I can remember. My partner in crime and his beautiful shadow have turned into my partner in crime and our mastermind. I heard a quote once that just seemed so fitting."

Although it was addressed to Finnick and Annie, his gaze drifted to meet Katniss' part way through, and he never faltered from her gaze.

"Sometimes you meet someone, and it's so clear that the two of you, on some level belong together. As lovers, or as friends, or as family, or as something entirely different. You just work, whether you understand one another or you're in love or you're partners in crime. You meet these people throughout your life, out of nowhere, under the strangest circumstances, and they help you feel alive. I don't know if that makes me believe in coincidence, or fate, or sheer blind luck, but it definitely makes me believe in something."

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Several dances in, as the sun was setting, Peeta asked Katniss, "Hey, you wanna take a break from this?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Let's go to the meadow and sit on the picnic table and watch the sunset."

"Please!" Katniss exclaimed in relief. "But I'm taking these chocolates!" and grabbed two off the table. They were some special kind that had a love quote inside the wrapper.

She pulled off her heels and carried them as she walked barefoot through the grass the short trek to the meadow. You could still faintly hear the music from the reception and John Legend's All of Me was playing.

_What would I do without your smart mouth?_

_Drawing me in, and you kicking me out_

_You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down_

_What's going on in that beautiful mind_

_I'm on your magical mystery ride_

_And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright_

They both sat on the edge of the picnic table, their feet dangling just inches from the ground, but they swung them as if they were kids.

_My head's under water_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

Katniss pointed to the sky and said, "Look! Your favorite color."

Peeta smiled as he remembered the first time she said that to him, the first time he went to her tree house.

He pointed to her dress, which was a deep, hunter green satin and said, "Look! Your favorite color."

"Yup. Cinna sure knows me well!"

_All your curves and all your edges._

_All your perfect imperfections._

"What do you say we eat those chocolates?"

"Who says you get one? Go get your own!"

Peeta looked entirely shocked and sad so she quickly continued, "Peeta, I'm just kidding," and placed a hand on his knee.

"Good. Because I was gonna take it anyway," and he grabbed one out of her hand.

After they had both unwrapped their chocolates and eaten them, they pulled out the little pieces of paper in the wrapper with the quote.

"What does yours say?" Peeta asked.

"'My love, kiss me now in these meadows full of birdsong.'"

"How dramatic."

"And what about yours?"

"'Surprise and amazement are the characteristics of beauty.'"

"Wrong. I am the embodiment of beauty and I hate surprises. And what I hate, I scowl at, and I'm told my scowl is not very pretty."

"Well, let's test that theory."

"What?"

Peeta stood in front of her. He held out his hand. "Can I have this dance?"

She smiled and took his hand, leaning her head on his shoulder and nuzzling his neck as then gently swayed.

_How many times do I have to tell you_

_Even when you're crying you're beautiful too_

_The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood_

_You're my downfall, you're my muse_

_My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues_

_I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you_

_My head's under water_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

Peeta turned his head to whisper in her ear, "My love, you never cease to amaze me, and you are full of surprises. I find you more and more beautiful each day."

He talked over the chorus of the song.

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, oh_

He got down on one knee. "So, will you kiss me now in these meadows full of birdsong, and accept this ring and be my wife?" He pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal a silver ring with black pearl as the center stone, surrounded by tiny diamonds.

_Give me all of you_

_Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts_

_Risking it all, though it's hard_

Katniss just scowled at him, in confusion and said nothing.

"You're wrong. That scowl is beautiful."

She play slapped his arm and smiled. "Yes." And slapped him again. "And stop being so... Finnick-y."

_'Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

_'Cause I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you_

Putting the ring on her finger as the sun finally went under the horizon, he asked her the same question he had asked her at this very table three years ago.

"Katniss, will you run with me?"

Her smile was the biggest he'd seen in years. "Always."

"Cross your heart?"

"I do." She drew an x over her heart. "Because I need you."

"Real or not real?"

They both smiled.

"Real."

_I give you all of me_

_And you give me all of you, oh_

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After the stars were out, they headed back to the reception.

"You know I sat at that table last night an talked with your dad?"

Katniss looked at Peeta in confusion.

He just smiled and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Yeah. I went there and laid down on the table like we did the night I told you about my mom, and just talked. I asked if he was okay, and what it was like to be a star, or live in the stars, I wasn't sure which. One star twinkled, so I took that as an 'Okay'."

Katniss had a grin growing on her face as she stared at her fiancé.

"I told him how much you miss him, how much we all do. And I asked him if I had his blessing to marry you. Well, to ask you. There's no way anyone could ever force you to do something you didn't want."

Although she was smiling, a silent tear trickled down her cheek. "And what did he say?" she whispered.

Peeta turned to her with a smile. "You'll never believe me."

She laughed. "You are telling me about a conversation with my dead father through the stars and I believe you. Try me."

Peeta grinned. "Well, right after I asked, I saw a shooting star and then that star that had twinkled at first twinkled again. So I said, 'Thank you', and just laid there for a while. I think he was happy."

"Why?"

"Just a feeling. The stars only twinkled brighter than they did last night tonight while we were in the meadow."

Katniss smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Lovebirds!" Johanna called and walked over to them. She wore her usual smirk, but had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Congratulations!" she whispered and pointed to the ring on Katniss' finger.

"How did you know?"

"Oh, don't mention it, Brainless. You're welcome," Johanna said sarcastically.

"Thank you. How did you know?"

Rolling her eyes, Johanna handed her a photo, and Katniss took it, looking at her friend curiously. When she looked down to the photo, she gasped. She felt Peeta put his arms around her waist from behind and rest his chin on her shoulder. He gave a little squeeze when he saw the photo.

It was of Peeta's proposal. She must have snuck up and caught it.

She turned her head to Peeta, their faces inches apart, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

He acted with mock surprise and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Then winked at Johanna. He gave Katniss a quick peck on the lips, and Katniss rolled her eyes and looked back to the photo.

She was smiling, as Peeta slipped on the ring, and he was beaming.

Johanna handed her another photo.

This one was of them dancing in the meadow, the sunset behind them.

Johanna handed her two more.

One was of them sitting on the table from behind, Katniss' head leaning on Peeta's shoulder, pointing to the sky.

The next they were slightly pulled apart, and he was pointing to her dress.

Just like their first page in the book. "Look! Your favorite color."

Gale walked up and took Johanna's hand in his. "Catnip, I never thought you would get a ring. You're too scary."

"Shut up, Grumpy Godzilla."

"Ooooo, a combo of my nicknames. Did I make the little Kitty angry?"

After a moment of tense silence they all burst out laughing and Gale gave her a hug and congratulated her.

Finnick and Annie walked up to them and leaned into the group and whispered in unison, "Is the eagle bald?" They all grinned, nodded, and went to their respective spots.

Finnick grabbed a mic and said, "Thank you, everyone, for coming, and I just want to say goodbye. This has been a wonderful evening, and we are going to end it with a little routine that started this whole thing. Hit it!"

Gale's little brother, Rory, was the DJ, and he nodded and put on Burn. With the intro Finnick leaned into Katniss and said, "2319! We've got a 2319!" and pointed to her engagement ring. She grinned as he grabbed her ring-clad hand and squeezed it.

They did the whole routine the same as at the proposal months ago, albeit the proposal. But this time, when they got to the bridge, which repeated the same thing four times:

_We can light it up up up _

_So they can put it out out out_

Gale and Johanna spun on the first one, and their clothes smoked and looked like a bed of burning coals.

Peeta and Katniss spun on the next repetition, Peeta lifting her in the air, becoming one pillar of smoke until he set her down and their clothes resembled a bed of coals as well.

The audience was oooing and ahhing.

Finnick and Annie were the last to spin, using the last two repetitions. Finnick spinning with a flourish, and then holding his hand out to Annie, and she spun, Finnick holding her hand above her head. Her wedding dress seemed to catch fire and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, shortly reappearing in a beautiful blue satin cocktail dress that went to her ankles in the back and to her knees in front, fading from dark blue on the bottom to light blue on the top. She resembled an ocean wave as they finished the routine.

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After thanking Cinna again for her wonderful dress, he gave Annie a hug and said, "Don't mention it, my Little Mermaid. Thank you for having the flash mob idea in the first place."

They left to everyone throwing rice, and got into the back of a car, the driver taking them to the airport to go on their honeymoon. "Somewhere tropical," was all Finnick would say.

Annie looked at Finnick and said, "I hope you know I was serious about what I said in my vows."

"What? Oh yeah. Your vows. I uh, I wasn't listening."

"Finnick!"

"I'm sorry, I just got lost in the moment!"

She huffed and crossed her arms, slouching down in the seat.

Finnick winced as he reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a sugar cube. With a nervous grin he said,

"Wanna sugar cube?"

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**A/N: Ta-da! Okay. We are getting to the island and more Up-y part of the story. If you have any ideas or suggestions for this story, please PM me, or leave a comment/review! (Comment/review/follow anyway. You know you want to. :P)**

**Also, you can find me on tumblr: Konzelwoman**

**In the hopes that you have read this far, thank you. May the odds be ever in your favor, the force always be with you, and may you live long and prosper.**

**And once again, Disclaimer: All the genius for the characters goes to Suzanne Collins, and to Pixar for the plotline (Loosely from "Up!")**


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